Grandma Mary Martha: Do Share the Flowers !!

Grandma Mary Martha: Do Share the Flowers !!: Have you ever read Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages  ?  You should read it unless you have NO interest in reading to le...

Making Gravy is Gravy, Since Aunt Pearl Taught Me

I was past 40 years old before I learned to make gravy !!  Oh, I tried, prior to my game changer lesson from Aunt Pearl, but until she taught me how, I was never successful.

Aunt Pearl came to visit me (7 hours away) to see my son perform in a high school play. She was 80 years old then. I told her I couldn't make gravy, and asked her to help me.  She showed me how, and talked me through it.  Since then, I am quite the gravy making expert, yet still the process quite mystifies  me.  I always ew and aw when my gravy is forming, and declare it a miracle, because I really don't understand it.......... So little oil, butter or grease, and so little flour, and so much milk, and so much delicious thick gravy is rendered !!

I will try to share Aunt Pearl's helpful hints:

I like to put a thin layer of fat in the bottom of my cast iron frying pan, with my electric stove on medium until all is hot enough to make a sprinkling of white flour fizzle.  

Then have your milk and flour out, ready to access quickly.  Hm, that is interesting.  I did not realize until now when I look back on the pictures, that I used FAT FREE on this day.  I used canned milk because we live 50 miles from good shopping, and my refrigerator was OUT of milk.  FYI, it actually tasted really good.

I like to put about a spoon of white flour into the frying pan in a fast even sprinkle and then lightning speed like, have your spatula and begin to stir it around and blend evenly.

 Before it gets too thick and clumpy, when it still looks slightly wet versus clumpy, add your liquid slowly so that it does not become too thin, while you are  frantically stirring  to blend with your spatula again.  You will see it quickly thickening again, and thus begins your fun balancing game, where the object is to not let it get too thick, or too thin.  This is somewhere how I had always messed up before.  Aunt Pearl said, "Be sure your pan is hot enough for the liquid to dissolve the flour when  you pour it in."

If it is looking just about right, something else I will do is mix a couple spoons of flour in a jar of milk and vigorously SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE until frothy and all flour is dissolved again.  Then pour it in to the bubbly gravy slowly, while stirring with the spatula to again mix and prevent clumps.  Yes, if you see any tiny clumps, usually you can smash and break up to dissolvable...

Add your salt and pepper. Simmer it and give it love, until it is just the right texture and thickness. Keep in mind that as it simmers, it will thicken.  Enjoy it your favorite way!

On this day, we served it on top of our ground turkey, rice and green pea hash, using up what was around.  Everyone should have an encourager like my daughter.  She says she likes these home-cooked meals better than eating out!

We are very good at SIMPLE around here, and since Aunt Pearl gave me a lesson, I can make GRAVY!  Yippee !!

Quick Tips on Cleaners

It's no big big deal, I guess, but I do wish I knew when I was younger......... Now, 'need to give credit to MY Grannie.  From my Grannie, I learned that a plenty fine GLASS CLEANER is white vinegar as the liquid, and yes it's true:  NEWSPAPER as the towel.  Newspaper is almost a novelty now, so I will let you go figure on that one, but I will add that in recent years, I have learned that for cleaning the surface of my counter and painted wooded table, a MIXTURE of white vinegar and water works (instead of the some of the leading surface cleaners, which should be out of the reach of children................).  I probably use the mixture about 50%/50%.  Honestly, I might do it more like 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water.  If it works, it works, and you don't have to worry about dangerous chemicals, and it is ECONOMICAL.

The thing my Grannie did not teach me, which I have learned along the way, is that hydrogen peroxide works super good as a spray cleaner as well !!  In the bathroom, I spray it on the mirror and wipe with a clean washcloth (no wasted paper towel), it makes a fabulous fresh clean eye glass cleaner.

See how clear my glasses are !!

OK, next quick tip is BAKING SODA, is cheap and non-toxic, and makes a GREAT surface cleaner for the tough jobs.  All I used was baking soda, and here is my kitchen sink before, during, and after:

Honestly, bleach or vinegar would get every-bit of the dingy color out, and I do that occasionally, but for common cleaning, baking soda does wonders, and you need to know because it is cheap and non-toxic.  Happy cleaning gals!

By the way, there is no shame in being the "cleaner" of the home.  I get really sick of people making a big awful deal about gender specific roles.  I said "gals" here because I imagine that is the audience that would most often be my reader. Period.  Personally, I am HAPPY to get to do traditionally female roles even though I have contributed fairly in EVERY realm of domestic life (financially as well) and when something fleshly like selfishness, lust, covetousness, or greed, has snuck in to my being and made me resentful or angry when I compare what I do vs what my husband does, or what I contribute vs what my husband contributes, then our relationship got messy and peace was disturbed.

I lean heavily on the Lord and most of the time I am just happy for what is done, accomplished, or contributed my whoever....and more funny stories about that, later.  Be looking for more please, and maybe see more where I am cultivating my  Grandma Mary Martha blog.

Gettin' My Green on............ and other Healthy food to go....

Here is what we have had for lunch lately.  If only I didn't bomb my intake in the evenings.  Mornings and lunch, I do pretty well.  It is in the evenings, after workday, that I make my  monumental menu mistakes (let's not discuss that here now.)

 To the left was my lunch:carrots, celery, green onions, yellow pepper, sunflower seeds, and dressing not pictured.............
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Below, is my daughter's lunch.  She has carrots, apple, sunflower seeds, Ranch dressing, and because "she likes it, and she CAN,"  (I can't), she also gets two slices of cheese.

This is how I enjoyed mine:

Dip veggie in dressing, and then sunflower seeds........... Apples for dessert!

Below, are another day:

Another day, I had roast beef wrap with side of carrots and apple. I enjoyed this very much!  (Like my Grannie S. said, "Waste not. Want not."  I don't peel my carrots, I scrub them instead. Peels are wasted if just trashed.)

You can put whatever meat and veggies that you want in your wrap bread or tortilla.  I did a thin layer of roast beef slices, then green onion and ranch dressing.  It was yummy yummy for ME.  The peanut butter apple slices was for a stashed snack at work.  I haven't eaten it yet. It's a classic ya'll !

Now above was an interesting school lunch:

To the left was my daughter's.  She had apple slices, a wrap with nothing in it but a smearing of cream cheese, and the mystery ingredient is HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS.  My lunch was carrot, green onion, celery and boiled egg.  

The price advantage of these choices should not me missed.  A large reason why we do it:

Eating lunch out (or in our case "at school," or from delivery restaurant) costs from $4 to $10.  The lunches we packed, probably cost around $2 each!!  The savings adds up, and is appreciated here, and the nutrition is wholesome and wise.