Material Monday: Running clothes for winter

Here is what I wore yesterday: Running shoes. Plain old ankle socks. Long underwear with little pink flowers. Cut off below the knee knit pants (yes, the flowers showed!). Long sleeved knit shirt. Another, heavier long-sleeved knit shirt over it. A heavy old black hooded sweatshirt with the hood up at the beginning. A spring-weight jacket. Headband. Gloves.

These were all default clothes partly because I don't know what else to wear, and partly because I don't have a lot of money for gear.

Perfectly adequate, however, at least for the level of cold we had yesterday morning, about 20 degrees, maybe. I did sweat, put the hood down, took off the gloves, but didn't get unbearably hot. Probably a pair of sweat pants would be suitable, or something wind/waterproof . . .

Material Monday: Green Gourmet skillet, Super Glove & bonus frittata recipe

Every time I use traditional non stick cookware, I cringe a little, as I imagine the dreadful chemicals leaching from the pot into the food. I thought about switching to cast iron but besides the $$$ the pans are just WAY too heavy. That's why I was so happy to find this pan. What a smart idea! The coating reminds my of the enameled spatterware people use for camping but it's very slippery and seems to be really tough so it shouldn't chip as easily. Nothing and I mean nothing sticks to this pan. It's not a cheap item, but I used one of the 20% off coupons I receive on a regular basis from Bed, Bath & Beyond, which eased the pan. So far, I've only purchased the 10 inch skillet, but plan to add more to my collection as the budget permits.
Another recent 20% off purchase is the Super Glove. I guess they sell something much like it on TV and call it the Ov Glove. Please. I would have had serious qualms about purchasing something with a name that precious, but my Super Glove suits me just fine. Now I can really get a firm grip on hot heavy pans which makes baking feel much more secure. I only have one so far; another item for my 'when I have some spare cash' list which looks like it might be somewhere around July, 2014.
Here is a simple and tasty frittata recipe from Everyday Food. Perfect for two with leftovers for lunch.
Apple Cheddar Frittata
8 large eggs (recipe calls for 2 white too but I didn't add those)
4 ounces coarsely grated white cheddar
salt and pepper
1 T butter
2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices. The recipe calls for Gala but I used locally grown Fireside apples. One of the best apples around and developed not too far from here. Read more about this interesting apple and my even more favoritest, the Connell Red, here.
1. Preheat oven to 450 and set rack in top third. (Note to self, move rack down one notch from the usual position so handle has room). In a medium bowl, mix the eggs and cheese and season well with salt and pepper. Add the cheese. Melt the butter over medium flame in the skillet and pour the egg mixture in. I put some toasted walnuts in with the melting butter, but they didn't add anything special.
2. While it cooks 1 to 2 minutes, quickly arrange the apple slices in a circle pattern around the middle and then in another course around the edge. Move quicker than I did so you don't overcook.
3. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until set. For me, this took way less than the 20 minutes called for in the recipe, but I left it on the top of stove too long so the longer timing might be just about right.
4. Let cool 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

Material Monday: from the sublime to the not so much...GUM Soft Picks

You'll recall my last 'Material Monday' entry was about the Daily Bible Email. Our local kid who questions everything wondered how this post met the 'MM' qualifications and I had a ready answer: 'MM' is about anything material or technological that makes our life here on earth better. Daily Bible Email (sponsored by the National Bible Reading Union) certainly does that for me. I look forward to each day's offering and can sense a deepening appreciation for God's Word.

So there, Mr. Skeptic.

Today's 'MM' winner, GUM Soft Picks, is a more obvious fit and solves another vexing problem for me.

We all know we should floss at least once per day, having been taught this stern lesson in grammar school via the talking toothbrush film strip and the pills that made the spots you missed while brushing turn a sad shade of pink. One hitch: I hate flossing and simply can't bring myself to do it except in the 4 days leading up to a dental appointment. My hat is off to you if you do it regularly.

Since the BWCA trip, when we brushed with baking soda rather than minty bear attracting toothpaste, I have developed a new toothbrushing routine. I noticed that the baking soda treatment seemed to leave my teeth feeling cleaner and my mouth fresher for longer. So I've thrown the Crest away and have continued brushing with baking soda.

I was searching around in the dental care aisle at Wal-mart for other products that would fit my new regime. I found this expensive but dragon-breath-defeating mouthwash there and the GUM Soft Picks. What attracted me at first, was the neat little travel case that's included in each package and how much they didn't look like dental floss.

At $2.40 for 40 picks, this verges on being a luxury item, and you have aim carefully because if you hit your tooth instead of the interstices, you'll bend the pick beyond usefulness. But besides that, they're just about perfect and remove one more item from my list of things to feel guilty about not doing.

Material Monday: DailyBible Email

Yesterday, our pastor challenged us to increase the time we spend reading the Bible, to just start where we're at and make it more. This was very convicting to me since I realized that where I was at was practically zero.
Since I love things like email and online bill pay and blogging and surfing and online shopping, I figured I could harness technology to get me past this block, so I searched yesterday for 'daily bible reading' and found lots of possibilities. Most are geared toward reading the entire Bible in a year like this one from Crosswalk (which also features an audio feed) but I'm for biting off a smaller chunk, at least to start.
The service I'm trialing is called DailyBible Email from Global Networks. I didn't read any of the fine print so don't know if they have a particular ax to grind, but I like the parallel format (NIV, CEV and KJV) and the low-key approach. Today's passage was so inspiring; it drove home to me what I've been missing by not making this a regular part of my life. Read the passage below and see if you don't agree. One question for you Greek scholars out there: Both the NIV and the KJV read 'cloud of witnesses' but the CEV says 'crowd of witnesses'? Which is more correct? I prefer 'cloud' - it paints an image of being surrounded by saints.

Hebrews 11.29-12.2 from the New International Version (NIV)
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 12
God Disciplines His Sons
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Material Monday: Hamilton Beach 225W Hand Mixer with Snap-On Case

When I bought this mixer about a year ago at Menard's of all places, I didn't pay anything close to the web prices I'm seeing today. I'm remembering that it was $12.99 or maybe cheaper.
The low price was one reason I bought it plus the snap on case plus the sticker that said it won the 4 Forks Award from epicurious.com plus the fact that I had ditched our previous mixer when we were moving and really needed another. The previous mixer was a hateful object - it splattered all the time, regardless of what it was mixing.
On the other hand, my new mixer makes me smile every time I use it. It runs great, isn't messy and stores neatly. Plus, it was a fabulous bargain. Highly recommended!

A new purse

 

Well, I love purses, bags, totes, etc. so my first Material Monday entry would logically be of that category, especially since I received a lovely new specimen from Cindy for my birthday.

This bag made its debut yesterday as I busily went from church to Conor and Theresa's baby shower. It's a little small, and I like it for exactly that reason: I can't overload it with stuff, and yet it easily accommodated all I needed for a busy day: wallet, keys, cell phone, camera, pencil/pen + tiny notebook, and of course, Carmex, lotion, Kleenex, etc. If I were taking a book, or running errands, I might need something bigger, but this is pretty enough for dress-up, and not too small to be practical.

Another plus: this bag is small enough to fit into a larger one for travel purposes and has a nice sleek profile, to make it easy to get it in and out of another bag for a quick walk to get a snack or a trip to the bathroom.

So it gets high marks all the way around! Thanks, Cindy!

Bought on

http://www.etsy.com/

Material Monday: Chincoteague Clam Digger

It doesn't look like much but this is my favorite tool for working up the soil. It's got two prongs that are still reasonably sharp. Work the prongs into the soil at the base of small to medium weeds, give a quick yank and no more weed.

We found this on the beach on Chincoteague Island, Virginia when we were there - was it 5 years ago? Besides being a very handy tool, it also brings back memories of a lovely day at the ocean.

Material Monday: Terra Tiller

I've spent some quality time over the last several days with a tool that looks a lot like this. I'm using it to break up the clods in the dirt I'm moving to make my flower border. And it's also very handy, if you put in on its side, for pulling the dirt around to level the surface.

The border is going to be slightly raised - maybe 3 inches. The area I've marked out measures 4 feet wide and 50 feet long and is just a simple rectangle. It should get sun most of the day and seems to be relatively dry, though it lies not far from patches of ground that are quite spongy.

I've moved a lot of dirt onto the bed in the last couple days. When the tree spade man was here, we had him pile most of the plugs on the south edge of our lot. I didn't have anything in particular in mind at the time, but knew we'd want the fill for one project or another. The idea of sorting the black dirt out of the plugs to make a long border seemed to come from nowhere one day and picked up momentum when I visited the Bluestone Perennials web site and saw they were nearing the end of their spring clearance sale. That was just the motivation I needed to get serious about planning the border.

I wanted something to anchor the bed at each end and had a $25 credit from White Flower Farm burning a hole in my pocket, so we ordered 2 Little King Fox Valley river birches, a dwarf form of the tree that should only get around 10 feet high and form a clump 12 feet wide.

With all the rain over the past several weeks, it's been hard to get out in the yard, but the last two days have been perfect gardening weather, except for the small storm that passed through last night and dumped some more rain down.

I haven't spent a ton of time on the border but I'm pleased with the way it's turning out and figure on another hour or two until it will be ready for planting. I'm aiming for Wednesday evening to start but may get a head start tomorrow night with a couple things. Like the Pink Peace rose Carol gave me for my birthday. That was before I knew where I was going to plant anything besides the trees, so I stuck the rose in a deep pot and it's been happy there. It's wearing a single bud as a topknot. I've been a little leery of hybrid tea roses in the past but by all accounts this variety is healthy and hardy and may grow 6' tall. Wouldn't that be stunning?

Material Monday: Brown Betty Teapot

My Brown Betty Teapot was a Christmas gift from Dan's children. Or can I say 'It IS a gift - still'? It makes me happy every time I use it because it truly brews the best tea. I use it only for black tea; somehow I just don't think green tea would taste well brewed in this pot. But for Orange Pekoe and Breakfast Teas, it can't be beat.

Here's what the English Tea Store has to say:
This little teapot has quite a history. Its origins date back to the end of the 17th Century and the birth of the British Ceramic Teapot.The original unglazed teapot was made out of red clay from the Bradell Woods area in Stoke-on-Trent. Today the Brown Betty teapot is still made in Stoke-on-Trent with the same clay from the original area. British people believe the Brown betty makes the best pot of tea because of the type of clay that is used and the shape of the pot. This teapot is lovingly hand-made in Staffordshire England.

Don't you just love that 'Stoke-on-Trent'?

The English Tea Store web site has a complete selection of Brown Betty tea pots and other pots, tea accessories, etc. You can see all they have on offer here.