things i should have taught my children, but didn't

eat dessert. i never really voiced it, but i think it is important. it signals your brain that one is through eating. this is the best idea i have ever read. it cancels out the eat dessert first idea, unless one does not want to eat anything else after the dessert. of course, that doesn't mean one should eat the whole jar of cookies...just one cookie or if, like me, one is on weight watchers, half a cookie. just a little sweet to tell the brain that this is the end of the meal...no more food...finished.

oh and btw, dessert has 2 's's' as in strawberry shortcake. no one wants to eat a desert...too dry.

things i should have taught my children, but didn't

daughter michelle called me earlier this week with "mom, how do you remove a tick. it is so grosssssssss?" so, i told her what i knew, asking her if she has any vaseline to smother the tick, and she said no. then, i said "light a match, blow it out and quickly touch the tick on its back."

that didn't work. the tick flinched, but it stayed firmly embedded.

she, finally, got it out with tweezers.

so.........i looked up how to remove a tick to see if i gave her the correct instructions.

on one website (kidshealth.org), it starts off with calling the doctor to see if one needs to save the tick, then the following words: "...don't use petroleum jelly or a hot match to kill and remove the tick..."(i did not make that up. seriously, look it up)
on another website (about.com) it had this to say: "applying heat, alcohol, petroleum jelly or fingernail polish to an embedded tick is not effective."

so much for MY parental advice.

back in my girl scout camping days (yes, i was a girl scout - nerd), that is how we did it. i have a scar on my stomach to prove where i jerked, when my girl scout leader was trying to burn the tick with a cigarette. i was going to show you the scar, but taking a photo of my stomach that hasn't seen the sun in a 100 years was to scary to post...not to mention the contrast between the white scar and white stomach wasn't really there.

obviously, when my children ask for advise from me, i should google it first before replying, right? or is it alright to give advice learned from experience?

here is how you should remove a tick (taken from the 2 websites above and yes, the advice was nearly identical):

1. use tweezers to grasp the tick firmly at its head or mouth next to the skin (be sure that you have really really good eyesight...seriously, who can see the head of a tick?)
2. pull firmly and steadily until the tick lets go. about.com also added not to puncture the tick because there is bacteria juices in the tick......gross.
3. swab the spot with alcohol

so now, you know how to remove a tick.

oh, and btw, i did tell michelle to put the tick in a baggie and google deer tick to see if her tick look like a deer tick to rule out lyme disease. and to watch for symptoms like a rash that looks like a target.

do i get points for that? i hope so.

things i should have taught my children, but didn't

wow! did i really let a whole week go by without posting? i posted so many things in my head, but didn't put them down in writing. so my m o.
i always have all these plans in my mind and then i fritter it all away, doing other stuff (reading other people's blogs, facebook, sudoku, tv). right now, all i can think about is how delicious a nap would be right now.

but first a post.

this is something that i got from do it delicious, a blog by jessica seinfeld. i don't remember how she got added to my blog roll any more than i can remember how GOOP got added. however, i like do it delicious because there are some really good basic things that i never knew and i should have taught my children them. although, how can one teach one's children something one does not know?

sooooooooooooo...click on this link about calibrating the cooking thermometer. this is a great idea. it may be something that others know all about, but i didn't. i use one for meat all the time. sometimes, i would forget what temperature chicken and pork should be when done. i, now, have a thermometer that labels the temperature with 'chicken' and 'pork' like my candy thermometer label 'soft ball' (not the sport).

so, children, here is something i should have taught you, but didn't (of course, i just learned how myself).

i will be calibrating my cooking thermometers...after a leetle nap.

p s here is a sidebar. go to my daughter's blog and watch her posted video of her time in sxsw. it will make you smile. it made me smile. i am totally envious of people who can do this (make a video not have fun...although, i am envious of people who are having fun without me).

things i should have taught my children, but didn't

when i read a recipe for chinese food, it will often preface that the vegetables (not including the garlic and ginger) should be cut up in about the same size to insure that it all cooks up at the same time and it just looks more appetizing.

i think that this is good advice and it can also be used for other recipes, too. for instance, when i make a corn salad or a pea salad, i like my ingredients to be about the same size as the peas or corn especially things like celery and onion. same with salsa, i think it looks nicer when the pieces are uniformly sized. AND when it looks nicer, it tastes better. it really does.

there are exceptions to the rule. like, for saint patrick's day, i like to make corned beef with potatoes, carrots and cabbage and the cabbage must be cut in nice big wedges so it stays together, but not so much the rest of the ingredients.

the way i make spaghetti sauce with ground beef, italian sausage, onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms, i like it all to be diced really small, so it blends in with the ground beef and sausage, but sometimes i like the mushrooms to be bigger.

but i never taught my children how to make a decision on when things should be uniformly cut. yes, a lot of recipes will indicate the size as in small dice or cubed, but a lot of the time, it really isn't mentioned that each ingredient that is cubed should be the same size cube. do you think that i am being picky?

take for instance meatloaf. i LOVE meatloaf and have the best recipe for it. i am sure people like to see the vegetables used in meatloaf to be seen, but i like it when it all blends in together. i must admit that i sometimes will not eat the big pieces of onion or bell pepper chunks when it is in meatloaf. i don't know why, but i am very particular about that.

it kind of reminds me of the episode of 'friends' where monica makes several dishes of mashed potatoes: smooth, lumpy and lumpy with carrots and peas in it.

anyway.....the best recipe for meatloaf is from Marion Cunningham's The Supper Book. i have her breakfast book, too (her last word on nutmeg muffins are to die for). here is the recipe:

2 T butter                                                                                               3 cloves garlic, minced or garlic pressed
1 lg onion, finely chopped                                                                 (i usually use the cuisinart & whirr it with the bread
2 - 3 medium carrots, finely chopped                                                while i am making the bread crumbs)
2 - 3 celery stalks, finely chopped                                                    11/4 c fresh bread crumbs
(i use my trusty cuisinart for this...must be finely chopped)        salt, at least 1 t, or to taste
1 lb ground beef (round or chuck - i used extra lean)                    pepper to taste
2 boneless pork chops (about 1/2lb), ground                                  3/4 t nutmeg (secret ingredient)
(i just get ground pork)                                                                        1/8 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce                                                               1/4 c tomato ketchup (it says that...not just ketchup....
2/3 c water                                                                                              i thought all ketchup was with tomatoes)


preheat oven to 350.
melt butter in large skillet. add onion, carrots and celery, and over medium-low heat, cook until softened, stirring often, about 5-6 minutes.
in large bowl, add beef, pork, sauteed vegetables and all the other ingredients. mix thoroughly with your hands. gently pat meatloaf into an oval-shaped mound in an 11"x7" baking dish. (if pressed together too firmly, the meatloaf won't remain moist and tender.) bake for 45-50 minutes.

since i like ketchup on top of my meatloaf, i squirt it on about 15-20 minutes before it is ready. according to the preface, Marion Cunningham likes to bake a few potatoes, carrots and onions in the pan with the meatloaf. i have to have mashed potatoes (smooth, not lumpy and especially not with peas and carrots).

(why does ketchup look so shiny when photographed?)

always make enough for leftover meatloaf sandwiches the next day which are better without visible chunks in it.

so...children, most recipes look, taste and cook better when the ingredients are cut in the same size. this is not an "always" case, but one should care about how the food will look as well as taste. and that is something i didn't teach my children but should have.

also to daughter michelle who hates meatloaf, but married a meatloaf-loving man...........ha ha ;-)

things i should have taught my children, but didn't

now this post should really be called "my children know better, but apparently some people don't know this". here it is:

wash reds separately from the rest of the wash.

if anyone is reading this, you are probably saying right now, "durh". son jason owns a pair of boxer shorts that are very very light pink and when he wore them in the locker room, the rest of the basketball team would say, "looks like your mom washed them with something red." and jason would say that they came that way (and they did), and the guys would say, "uh hunh, sure they did".

so you see, even your average basketball team knows what happens when something red gets mixed in with the rest of the non-red wash.

i have even washed a load of whites, AFTER a load of reds had been washed and the load comes out pink. so, i always do a rinse/spin cycle before i put in another load after washing the reds - that would be a thing i haven't taught my children.

so, don't you think that everyone knows not to put other colors in with your reds? (and sometimes pinks and purples)

apparently not.

husband scott put his green shirt into my reds and purples pile...why? to match my ugly wallpaper? 

it's a mystery to me.

so, things that i should have taught my children, but didn't:

if you wash a load of reds and are going to follow with a load of whites, rinse and spin between the 2 loads.

and, things husbands don't know, but should:

reds are washed separately from the rest of the colors!!!

things i never taught my children thursday - mop

was talking with daughter michelle and she said that she mopped her kitchen floor with a little bit of bleach in water and isn’t that what i do?

i, now, realize that i never taught my children the art of housekeeping. it’s true i do use bleach in a bucket of water to clean certain stains where son jason missed as a very young child in the bathroom. and there was the time when same son had a bad case of diarrhea and vomiting at. the. same. time and i used more than just a little bit of bleach in a bucket of water on the bathroom floor. my lungs felt like i had swum all day in an over-chlorinated pool after cleaning up the mess, but i felt sure that i killed every germ in the house.

for general mopping of the tile floor, i use an all purpose cleaner diluted in water. i especially like method or caladrea cuz it smells so good. i am also the type who mops on my hands and knees with a rag and bucket. i just don’t think that real mops really pick up the grime and just pushes it around and/or shoves the dirt into the corners. because of this, i don’t mop as often as i should. so, it’s kind of a trade off. i wonder what is better - cleaning less often, but more thoroughly or more often, but less thoroughly?

when my children start having children (cannot wait!) and those beautiful little guys begin to crawl, that is when mopping often and thoroughly are most important.

on my hardwood floors, i like thymes cedar mint wood floor cleaner - again for the great smell - it also cleans really well. or i also like murphy’s oil soap.

so, michelle and jason, go buy a bucket, a nice smelling all purpose cleaner like method or caldrea or martha stewart’s new line at home depot and dilute as the directions recommend, use a mop or the rag and clean the floor.

also ask perspective spouse if there is anything they need from the room that is going to be cleaned because husband scott, after 30 years, still feels the need to tread on my wet floor while i am still moping it…even when i tell him i am getting ready to clean the floor and he will have to wait about 15 minutes for it to dry. there is some kind of magnetic force like children who need to talk to you the very minute you pick up the phone to talk to someone and they were not even in the same room as you dialed. it is uncanny.

and that is another thing i never taught my children, but should have for this thursday.

here is a new entry for thursdays on this blog. i am going to call it THINGS I SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT MY CHILDREN BUT DIDN’T THURSDAY.

i am going to start by talking about my dad. my dad is a retired mechanical engineer. in my mind an engineer must be exact and precise which describes my dad to a T. he likes things neat, in their place and precisely put in their place. while growing up with him, he had a lot of rules which weren’t particularly bad…really.

anyhoo, one of them was “don’t put potato peelings down the garbage disposal, it gums it up”, which i never did (put the peelings in the disposal) because he told me not to do that. now, i never gave it another thought after i was out of the house. i mean, i still didn’t put them down the sink in the garbage disposal and i made sure that husband scott knew not to do it, too. what i mean by not giving it another thought was that i always thought it was a dad-ism, not so much a general knowledge people should know, until….

i read or saw somewhere (and i looked all over the internet for this) that julia child had a sign posted over her sink in her famous kitchen (which has been installed in the smithsonian) which says “no potato peelings in the sink.”

dad has just been validated…not that he needs validation, but none the less…

so, daughter michelle and son jason here is a THING I SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT YOU BUT DIDN’T for this thursday:

don’t put potato peelings in the garbage disposal. it will gum it up!