Ice cream... the beach... lounging by the pool... vacation... camping... grilling... cookouts.... picnics... these are some of our favorite things about summer, some only when the weather's not so unbearable, however, as it gets sometimes for us in the South! As summer comes to an end, and we get to switch gears to the things we enjoy about fall, like getting into our school routines for another year of learning, cooler, comfortable temperatures, Thanksgiving, and for our family, birthday celebrations, we put together a photo collection of our recipes that are perfect for summer indulgence. For Southerners, we will still have plenty of days going into fall to enjoy these recipes a little while longer!
Follow these links to any of the recipes you'd like to see:
Brand new recipe we served yesterday, Mango and Coconut Congelar:
This Rainbow Sherbet Cake Roll was a summer recipe The Lucky Wife came across and has been wanting to try all summer... we just haven't gotten to it yet!
A few other summer recipes on our "to-try" list that The Lucky Wife found on Pinterest:
Follow us on Pinterest.... and enjoy the last few days of warmer weather we have for the year!
******************************************************************* If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
Has society always put the pressure it does now on girls to look a certain way? Can you guess from the collage what the special message today's MaFF Monday brings? Beauty... and that every woman is beautiful. Whether she feels that way or not. Whether she heard a different message growing up or hears that same message as an adult... from her peers, from the media, or maybe even from her family.
Not only am I a lucky wife, I'm also a lucky momma! Last Sunday while I was getting my daughter dressed for church, I noticed my son watching with the cutest grin on his face. I said to him, "[*Insert daughter's name] looks pretty in her dress, doesn't she?" He said, "Yeah, [*Insert name again]'s a pretty girl." I thought my heart would melt into a puddle on the floor. I should mention that The Chef is good about telling me the same. His son is already starting to take after him. :)
Sadly, not every little girl hears this message from the influences around her, and according to April Harris, Author of The 21st Century Housewife and our Featured Food-"e"-Friend today, 3-4% of women in North America suffer from anorexia, resulting from an unhealthy and distorted body image. Meet April, and read what she has to say about her own struggle with this:
It is incredibly important to me to help girls and women acknowledge
their own individual beauty, as well as to encourage society to accept a
more inclusive ideal of beauty itself. I discuss this in more detail on
my Just As You Arepage.
We have allowed a culture to be created around us in which we are
teaching girls (and boys!) from a very young age that they have to fit
into a particular mould in order to be beautiful, and this incenses me.
The worst thing is, the mould itself is a lie, as we allow ourselves to
be encouraged to aspire to the digitally altered images that surround
us. The only way to change this culture is from within, and I firmly
believe it can be done. We need to make our voices heard around the
world, using political and economic pressure to show designers,
broadcasters, writers, photographers, artists, magazine editors and
journalists that we will not accept a culture of unattainable,
artificial 'beauty'.
As someone who suffered from anorexia in the past, I
know the damage this can do. I encourage everyone to eat well and
exercise because I do it myself and there is no getting away from the
fact that you look and feel better when you do. However there is no
reason to be unhappy because of how your body looks today - even if you
are overweight. We need to teach our daughters (and sons!) that beauty
is not dependent on the number on the scale or the size of your nose.
Every woman is beautiful in some way. We all have our flaws, we all have
our good points, and it is the sum of these two things that makes us
perfectly us. Life is way too short not to love the skin you are in!
Can I get an Amen?! Hallelujah? Something?! I am passionate about this topic, but I'll save what I have to say about it for another day.
Here's what else April has to share with us today:
1) Tell us a little about the "birth" of your blog. You've been blogging
for a number of years now... why did you decide to start?
The 21st Century Housewife was created in 2002. I noticed that
every time anyone asked what I did, I answered "I'm just a housewife".
Not surprisingly, I felt very diminished when I said that. Also,
people's responses to the fact I was a housewife always alluded to the
fact I must be bored, and did I not want to go back to work, which made
me feel quite cross because I liked what I did. When I expressed my
frustration to my husband he said "Will you stop using the word 'just'
to describe yourself? You are wonderful at what you do, and it is as
much a career as anything else."
This not only delighted me, but it led
me to the concept of "professional housewives" and the development of
The 21st Century Housewife. I have long believed that society's
perceptions of housewives and housewifery are often warped and outdated,
and it became my mission to help change this perception, as well as to
support and encourage other housewives. I began to work on a manuscript,
and then the website, and the website itself became so popular that I
am still working on the manuscript all these years later! (It's very
nearly done now!)
Like everything though, this concept and the website itself began
to evolve, particularly when I noticed that some of my most loyal
readers were not housewives. So as well as keeping to the heart of my
original aims, I have become someone who blogs about everything from
food, health, home and family to travel, fashion, beauty and current
events. My readers come from over 120 countries, and every walk of life.
As well as women of every age and career, I count a large number of men
and young people amongst my regular readers. There is so much more to
being a housewife in the 21st Century than meets the eye, and there is
also so much more to The 21st Century Housewife website than its name
suggests!
I also blog at The 21st Century Housewife's Kitchen, which began as an offshoot of the 21st Century Housewife, but which has taken on a life of its own.
2) Which recipe would you recommend as the first your readers should try from your blog and why?
It's very hard to choose a favourite after nearly ten years, but in
terms of a recipe to start with I would recommend mybran muffins. They
are one of the first things I ever cooked as a young girl, and the
recipe has evolved to become one of my signature bakes. I even did a
vlog round them! Take a peek:
3) What feature of your blog would you like most for us to know about?
My blog contains a lot of different things and that there is a great
deal on offer if you click round the site. From a cosmopolitan view of
good food and good eating to home and garden, from travel, recommended
hotels and restaurants to fashion and beauty, there is something for
everyone at The 21st Century Housewife!
April lives in England, and her blog truly represents a good variety of topics and has a wealth of information when you have a few moments to check it out. It will be time very well spent. Because she has been blogging for so long, it's difficult for her to determine what her blog's most popular recipe has been. However, she said her Cinnamon Dolce Latte Marble Cake has been one of the most popular recipes recently. Any other coffee lovers feel the need to try this one in the near future?? :)
Just a few reminders before linking: 1)
You can link any type of food-related blog post, including giveaways or
food coupon offers. Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and
not your blog so visitors can easily find what you wanted to share!
2) Don't forget to link back to MaFF Monday, using either a text link, Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday, or the button:
3)
Most of all, have fun and be sure to grab a pen and paper or open up
your notepad to jot down the recipes you find that you know you want to
try.
(Link-up open through Wednesday):
Wait... don't go yet! Before you leave the party... check out this video of a special song about the struggle with body image and anorexia:
Don't let the lies in the messages from society or those who should know better drown out the message from the One who made you and sees and appreciates your beauty, inside and out! I hope we as Mothers and Fathers can bring about the change April mentioned in our homes and as influences in our culture. Have a beautiful week...
******************************************************************* If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
Note: Congelar, we believe, is the Spanish word for "freeze," when associated with food, and mango is a South American/tropical fruit; thus, the inspiration for the name of this recipe.
This
recipe is the 18th in a 21-week series, The Feast of the Ages,
developed to share our faith with our readers, realizing that as much as
we love food, our faith is an even more important and bigger part of our lives. We thought it would be fun to bring the two together.
In
Revelation 19:9, the Bible says, “Blessed are those who are invited to
the wedding supper of the Lamb!” The Bible refers to the church, or
the Christian body of believers, as the “bride of Christ.” The wedding
supper, or feast, represents a time of great celebration when Jesus is united with the church in heaven.
What a celebration this will be! Imagine what the elements of the greatest party you could plan or attend would be like. The atmosphere
would be comfortable and very inviting. People would want to be there
because each person would be accepted for who he/she is. Each person
would be made to feel special and everyone would feel included and a
part of the activities. The fellowship and interactions between people would be real. The food
would have the freshest ingredients and the flavors would be perfect.
There would be no concern about the effects of pesticides or chemicals
used in the growing process of the food. There would be something for everyone,
and the individual taste preferences of every guest would be completely
satisfied. This is what we would anticipate the wedding supper of the
Lamb to be like.
The
most formal of feasts includes 21 courses. When we thought about what
the Wedding Feast of the Lamb might look like, a celebration for the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thought it could definitely involve
21courses! We thought it would be fun to provide a sample 21-course
“Feast of the Ages” menu, with a different recipe a week over 21
consecutive weeks.
We offer frozen dessert for the 18th course:
Mango and Coconut "Congelar"
Ingredients:
1 package frozen mango chunks
1 6-ounce package frozen coconut flakes
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
sliced almonds, toasted
Cooking Directions:
Place mango, coconut, 1 cup sugar, rice wine vinegar, vanilla, and egg whites in large bowl or standing mixer and beat on low-medium speed for 20 minutes.
After fruit has mixed for approximately 10 minutes, in a separate bowl combine coconut milk, heavy cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed with a hand mixer until thickened to the consistency of yogurt. (This will take a while.)
After 20 minutes of mixing, remove bowl from standing mixer and fold in cream mixture from step 2.
Pour fruit into freezer-safe container and freeze overnight.
Garnish with sliced toasted almonds.
Did
you know you have been invited to attend the real “Feast of the Ages,”
the Wedding Feast of the Lamb? Revelation 22:17 says, “Whoever is
thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of
the water of life.”
*(You
will be able to select from the following versions: English,
Chinese-traditional characters, French, Japanese, Spanish, or Children's
-- preferred by some adults due to its simple style.)
If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
My apologies for being a day late with our Saturday evening recipe. I have been under the weather for a day or so, on top of being called into work all day yesterday. I hope it will be worth the wait.
Today's recipe is the third recipe in this month's theme of "Favorite Childhood Recipes". This is probably my favorite childhood recipe that has stayed with me into adulthood and now is one of our family's top repeats.
This dish is probably more widely known as Chicken Perleau, but back home we referred to it as Chicken Bog. It is a true one pot meal. The ingredients are cheap, and the dish is healthy, quite filling, and very adaptable. You can do just about anything you want. And to be honest, chicken doesn't even have to be the main protein. A very close friend and colleague of mine's sister makes a perleau using salted herring. In the words of my friend, "Put a hurtin' on it, son!". So be creative, have fun and customize it however you would like.
The Lucky Wife, when she was pregnant with the Well-Fed Daughter, asked me to put carrots in the dish, and it was the meal she wanted most during the pregnancy. I had grown up with a version that was just seasoned chicken. Every now and then, Mom might throw a pound of smoked sausage into it to add a twist. The photo above shows the dish with both the carrots and the smoked sausage included. Let me say this. This was the first time I have ever combined the two variations and it turned out wonderful. Enjoy.
Chicken Perleau
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 pound beef smoked sausage link, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 large carrots, sliced into coins
1 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice
kosher salt
garlic powder
cracked black pepper
Cooking Directions:
Place chicken pieces in large stockpot. Cover with water. Season water with salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
Bring chicken to a boil and simmer approximately 1 hour until chicken is thoroughly cooked and tender.
Remove chicken pieces from pot and place on a plate to cool. Bring stock back to boil.
Add carrots, rice and sausage into stock. Bring to strong simmer.
When chicken is cool to the touch and can be handled, remove meat from bones and add to pot. Discard skin and bones.
Simmer on low heat approximately 30-45 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Note: Add additional salt and pepper if desired.
NEED ANY OF THE TOOLS USED?
Rating scale
1 star - Feed it to the dog
2 stars - Surprise your neighbor
3 stars - Definite keeper
4 stars - Looking forward to leftovers
5 stars - Clean plate and nap time! Are there enough ingredients left to make it again soon?
The Chef - 5 Stars
The Lucky Wife - 5 Stars
The Well-Fed Son (4 years old)- 3 Stars The Well-Fed Daughter (12 months old) - (Mommy's Baby Girl, 5 Stars)
If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
What little boy would not love to open up his lunchbox and see this? With the kids heading back to school, the blogosphere has been full of chatter about what to put in those lunchboxes. I'm sharing some of the ideas I've come across out there with you today. (Yes... I know, I know... it's still Thursday. I decided to post this Friday post a little early... happy Friday!)
I'm planning to try a few of the Bento lunches for The Well-Fed Son, who starts preschool this year. They don't exactly look easy, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised! If you'd like some other types of lunchbox ideas, here's what else I came across:
And... if you need or want more ideas, how about 400? Check out 400 Best Sandwich Recipes by Allison Lewis:
See a picture of her Lunch Box Sushi in the Pimp Your Lunchbox blog at the Nashville Scene Food Blog Bites. Not sure how many kids would eat sushi... but impressive, nonetheless! Maybe it will work for your lunch box!
If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
This
recipe is the 17th in a 21-week series, The Feast of the Ages,
developed to share our faith with our readers, realizing that as much as
we love food, our faith is an even more important and bigger part of our lives. We thought it would be fun to bring the two together.
In
Revelation 19:9, the Bible says, “Blessed are those who are invited to
the wedding supper of the Lamb!” The Bible refers to the church, or
the Christian body of believers, as the “bride of Christ.” The wedding
supper, or feast, represents a time of great celebration when Jesus is united with the church in heaven.
What a celebration this will be! Imagine what the elements of the greatest party you could plan or attend would be like. The atmosphere
would be comfortable and very inviting. People would want to be there
because each person would be accepted for who he/she is. Each person
would be made to feel special and everyone would feel included and a
part of the activities. The fellowship and interactions between people would be real. The food
would have the freshest ingredients and the flavors would be perfect.
There would be no concern about the effects of pesticides or chemicals
used in the growing process of the food. There would be something for everyone,
and the individual taste preferences of every guest would be completely
satisfied. This is what we would anticipate the wedding supper of the
Lamb to be like.
The
most formal of feasts includes 21 courses. When we thought about what
the Wedding Feast of the Lamb might look like, a celebration for the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thought it could definitely involve
21courses! We thought it would be fun to provide a sample 21-course
“Feast of the Ages” menu, with a different recipe a week over 21
consecutive weeks.
We offer pudding for the 17th course:
Banana Pudding Discs
Ingredients:
Vanilla Wafers
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
whole milk
2 ripe bananas
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Cooking Directions:
Prepare pudding as directed on box. Cover and place in refrigerator to chill.
In a standing mixer, place two egg whites and cream of tartar. Mix on medium high speed until white and frothing.
Slowly add granulated sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Keep cool.
Assembly:Turn oven on lowest broiler setting. Place one vanilla wafer, flat side up, on cookie sheet. Place approximately 1/2 teaspoon vanilla pudding on top of wafer. Place one slice of banana, approximately 1/4 inch thick, on top of pudding. Using a butter knife, take a small amount of meringue and place on top of banana slice, drawing knife upward to create a peak. Repeat assembly steps to make as many as desired. (NOTE: You must work quickly as meringue will slowly lose its stiffness.)
Once all are assembled, place cookie sheet in oven for 5-7 minutes or until meringue is golden brown and firm to the touch.
Remove from oven and cool completely before serving.
Did
you know you have been invited to attend the real “Feast of the Ages,”
the Wedding Feast of the Lamb? Revelation 22:17 says, “Whoever is
thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of
the water of life.”
*(You
will be able to select from the following versions: English,
Chinese-traditional characters, French, Japanese, Spanish, or Children's
-- preferred by some adults due to its simple style.)
If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
Today we get to e-travel to Singapore to experience Filipino food with Marelie of Cookie Droplets Etc! I'm sure some of you are familiar with her blog and tasty recipes.
More about Marelie and her blog:
1) Tell us a little about the "birth" of your blog. How long have you been blogging and why did you decide to start?
Cookie Droplets Etc. is my personal blog about food discovery.It all started with a cookie that eventually inspired me to do more. I bake. I cook. I research. I copy. I change. I formulate according to my culture and taste.
My blog is just newly born. Our family moved and settle here in Singapore. I love the changes and the fact that this place is multi racial, I enoy so much the varieties and opportunities for me to explore when it comes to food. Although I started it last January 2011 using blogspot.com, I formally launched my blog the following month, February 2011, wherein I decided to use a website provided by Google. The greatest thing about blogging is that the knowledge is overflowing. You get to learn and you get to share. In the end, there is a gift of profound joy in blogging. You feel nourished, healthy physically and mentally.
2)What is your favorite Filipino recipe you've published so far and what is it that makes it so special? Tell us more about Filipino food culture!
My personal favorite among my posts is our country’s national food which is Adobo…., the meat is soft and tender...the taste is kinda strong and addictive, the combination of soy sauce, vinegar, salt, rice wine and sugar has made the dish tasty, the distinct taste of chaos in your mouth but it is such a comfort to eat. The use of olive oil and herbs gives a very rich flavor and aroma
My version of adobo is actually a mix of traditional way how a Spanish adobo is cooked but I cant omit soy sauce because I learned to cook adobo with soy sauce. I tried the recipe without soy sauce and I don't like it because it was so white...it looked raw to me and I cant take it. The best thing about adobo is that it could last for a week without refrigeration. Put it in a jar and let it stand in one corner and just get what you can eat and still it will not get spoiled. During camping or outing, Adobo is such a perfect food to go. The longer it lasts, the better it tastes. Nowadays there are people who add boiled eggs in their adobo..for variety, for economic reasons and somehow adapted to the Chinese way of cooking their stew.
Our Filipino Food Culture:
Fusion technique in cooking has been a norm in Filipino kitchen long before Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines in 1521. One may note that while “fusion” has just been popularized by the elite group of modern chefs, and dubbed by some as “East Meet West,” the original concept was introduced to and adopted by Filipinos as a result of migration and colonization.
About 80% of the dishes prepared in Filipino kitchen today can be traced to Spain. The Spaniards introduced tomatoes and garlic along with the technique of sautéing them with onions in olive oil. Add to that, as in popular baked good and desserts like Pan de Sal (a crusty dinner roll), Flan (an egg custard), Ensaymada (cheese buns), rice dishes as in Arroz Valenciana or Arroz Con Pollo, etc. Most Spanish recipes had been modified to accommodate what were readily available re ingredients. Thus, the emergence of a cuisine Filipinos called their own, adapted to their tastes. If you want to know more, you may read it here.
Just a few reminders before linking: 1) You can link any type of food-related blog post, including giveaways or food coupon offers. Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and not your blog so visitors can easily find what you wanted to share!
2) Don't forget to link back to MaFF Monday, using either a text link, Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday, or the button image for this week's party:
3) Most of all, have fun and be sure to grab a pen and paper or open up your notepad to jot down the recipes you find that you know you want to try.
I would love to make it around to every single link each week, as some party hosts are so good at doing. I hate that I usually am unable to, but I always enjoy seeing what everyone brings and check back when looking for new ideas.
(Link-up open through Wednesday):
******************************************************************* If you have a moment, be sure to check out our Christmas series, which will begin in September, and how you can be involved (you do not have to have a blog):
*If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment (don't be a stranger!), subscribing (it's free!) to receive e-mail updates of future recipes, or sharing it with your family/friends:
