Thoughts on Mediocrity upon Making a Potato Salad

Dinner: Shrimp Fritters, Potato Salad, 

& Mandarin Oranges

Today I made potato salad with the last of the beautiful organic Yukon Gold potatoes that I bought in the Fall from a nice Amish farmer. Ravenna was napping, the house was clean and the dishwasher humming in the background was the perfect music for a wandering mind. I considered my accomplishments to this point and discerned, as I had many times in the past, that there was no particular thing that I was especially good at.

You would think that for a perfectionist this occasional realization would be a maddening reminder, but for me, as I peeled the skin off cold potatoes in the dim winter light of a north facing window, I felt a certain peace acceptance.

I quit playing the flute at 14 because my band instructor told me that I would never be really good at it, mediocre at best, and I did not really like it anyway. During high school I joined the Future Farmers of America with its numerous and diverse activities, certain that I would find something that I could be really good at. Yet, at the end of four years I was again reminded that I would never do very well in any of the many activities that I participated in and I abandoned the pursuit of a degree in agriculture for the pursuit of academic glory. Here is where I did the best. I had a knack for knowing my academic strengths and weaknesses and thus avoided classes that I would not do well in. This is not to say that I was not challenged, but I stuck with the things that I thought would lead me to eventual success, my niche, as it were. In the end I only graduated Magna cum Laude, not Summa, and missed being Valedictorian by miles. On my graduation day I cried at the loss because I had come so close. I did not need the honors, more the validation to continue in my studies. 

Moving onto to full time employment to support my husband while he finished his studies, I entered into a job as meaningless and unfulfilling as any job I have ever held. I was extremely grateful for the position that paid the bills but resentful at the fact that every morning I woke up dreading the day ahead of me. I quit that job after only 11 months believing that I was moving onto a bigger, better job and a crack at graduate school glory, but that was not in the cards for me. 

One month after quitting, I found myself pregnant with Ravenna, a delightful surprise, and all plans for further employment and graduate school were put off indefinitely. I jumped into becoming a full time housewife with all the zeal of June Cleaver. I wanted to be the best, most economical, crafty cute, organized and emotionally put-together housewife there ever was. 

Luckily, I did not let that zeal extend to motherhood. I realized early on in my pregnancy that motherhood is not something you can excel at because you are dealing with another person and to do justice to the calling, you must abandon your self-interest and give over to love, patience and compassion. To be a good mother is merely to do your very best and hope that to the little person whose care you were entrusted, that it will be enough. 

And so, folding cubed potatoes into the creamy dressing while chatting with my husband about his day, I resigned to my mediocrity. I wish I could say that I had some great epiphany about how my inability to do anything very well fits into the Great Plan of Happiness or spiritual reassurance that my inherent divine worth as a daughter of God would make up for my lack of excellence, that is not what happened. I felt merely acceptance of what I am: a decent person and a good wife and mother, and that is enough.

Placing the bowl of salad into the refrigerator I breathed a sigh of resignation. Then I realized that I had neglected to put the hard boiled eggs into the salad. Drat!

Potato Salad

6 hard-boiled eggs

10 Red or Yukon Gold Potatoes, boiled for 15-20 minutes and cooled, peeled and cubed

1 c. Mayo

1/2 c. ranch dressing

2 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 celery seed

4-6 green onions (depending on taste) sliced thinly

Stir together mayo, ranch dressing, mustard, and spices in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, potatoes and onion and stir gently until evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Shrimp Fritters, adapted from BHG

1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp with tails removed, chopped

1 egg, beaten

4 green onions, thinly sliced 

1/4 c. all purposed four (I used my gluten-free baking mix)

2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1/4 c. cooking oil (I used Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, which I always use when I fry)

In a small mixing bowl beat the egg. Add the shrimp and the rest of the ingredients and mix well. In a large skilled heat the oil (it is best when it is good and hot) and then add the shrimp mixture by 1/3 cup full's. I find that the best way to do this is to really pack the mixture into a 1/3 cup measure and drop it quickly into the oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side and let drain on a paper towel. Serve immediately.

February: Resolutions in Review

February seemed to drag on forever with all the snow storms and the subsequent snow-days that shot our routine into oblivion. Having Andrew home so much was wonderful, though! I really love his job as a teacher when there are snow days to be had. As far as living our resolutions I think I can give us a B-/C+ grade for the month.

Things we did well:

• We did not shop at any big box stores for groceries, personal care or household items. NONE. We have done a lot of shopping at our local hardware store and local grocery stores, especially The Country Store.
  
• Ravenna and I had a ball at the local thrift and consignment stores! We really have some great stores only about a mile from our house so when the weather gets nicer we can walk there.
• Despite the no-go from our HOA for the raised beds, I have decided to move forward and build the beds into the ground. So while it won't look as nice, I will still have my garden and be able to follow the square foot gardening method. I have one broccoli plant started and will be starting a bunch more seeds this week.
  

Things we didn't so well:

• Eating out: We didn't eat at any local restaurants this month. Truth be told we ate at the Olive Garden, Taco Bell, Coldstone and Burger King. The Olive Garden and Coldstone were paid for by gift card's so I am not sure if those count.
  
• Andrew had gift cards for JC Penney and Sears so we had to use those. There really wasn't any way around that and Andrew needed work clothes which are painfully difficult to find at Thrift and Consignment stores (I guess guys don't part with their wardrobe as readily as women do?).
• We didn't attend our borough's big "Fire and Ice" event this month, despite the fact that it is one of the biggest events of the year with lots of ice sculptures and a chili cook-off. We wanted to go, but when it came down to it, it was snowing and I wanted to read a book.
• I still haven't involved myself in a community group. With my new calling as achievement day leader and with Andrew's college class my only free time is Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and I am not sure the library will let me volunteer with so few hours.
  

Our grocery budget this month was a real learning experience. I think we could have lived with the budget I made, but I am not sure if we could have eaten so well. When all is said and done, I know we can do better than the $300+ we spent on groceries this month.

This month was unusual in that we had 4 dinner "parties." Normally we have 1-2 so that did put us a bit out of the range of a normal grocery bill. Based upon this last month's spending and taking your advice into account I have revised our budget:

• $240/month for groceries NOT including personal care or household items, but including stock-up items for our 3-month supply.
  
• $20/month for personal care items
• $20/month for household items
• $10/month for clothes for Ravenna: The local consignment store just had a big sale so with $35 I was able to get almost all the clothes I need for her for summer aside from PJ's so I probably won't buy any more clothes until June.
• $200 for gardening (I have decided to do worm composting which is much cheaper to begin with). So far I have spent about $50 for gardening expenses including: seeds, soil, peat pots, vermiculite, and a grow lamp.

So there you go! We are ready to start March with a great deal of optimism. This month will be a big one for getting the garden ready: moving the rhododendrons to the back (the HOA did approve this), digging out the 4'x8' bed, building the garden box into the soil and preparing and filling the box with "Mel's Mix."

The Dish: February Groceries Part 3

After factoring out the Costco diapers and furniture that left me with $21.37 to spend on groceries for the rest of the month. Could I do it? Probably not, but I would certainly try. The day before the big blizzard I went to The Country Store to pick up some necessities which set me back $21.73...ouch! I bought two dozen free-range eggs, 2 lbs. buckwheat flour, natural hot dogs (these were really interesting), pine nuts, 3 lbs. garbanzo beans, brown sugar and 4 lbs of sweet potatoes for .49/lb.! I went a bit crazy buying a bunch of things that we didn't really need.

On Saturday I bought 3 lbs. of crab legs from a local fishmonger for our traditional Valentines Day crab fest: $18.93 I have always wanted to say I went to a fishmonger. I don't know if I will go back there again because the owner was really rude to her employees showing a complete disregard of them or the customers, and that is very uncool in my book. Maybe she was having a bad day though, and as I learned from the Veggie Tales movie that I saw recently, "Everyone deserves a second chance."

Already I was over the budget by $19.29 and there were still two weeks left in the shortest/longest month of the year.

My last trip to the grocery store set me back only $69.29 and that was only food. Oh yes, and we needed dessert for one of our dinner parties, ice cream floats with 7 different kinds of "root" beers to choose from, and that total came to $16.27. Our grand total spending on groceries for the month: $304.85 which is $84.85 over budget. I think I need to do a little tinkering.

A Little Dose of Ravenna: The Aunt Jemima

When I don't feel like spending time battling with my willful hair I just cover it up with a scarf or bandanna. Andrew, however, is not a fan of the look and started calling my hair covering, "The Aunt Jemima." Undeterred, I almost daily wear my "Aunt Jemima" head-dress and apparently Ravenna took notice:

Check my baby girl out! She totally did this one herself with a bandanna I had forgotten to untie. How awesome is this?! Notice the mittens? Her fashion sense is really taking off!

Love: S.S. and Green Tongues

Today I got a lovely package in the mail from my secret sister, Stacy! I have never met Stacy but we both belong to the Natural LDS Living Forum where we do secret sister's quarterly. My package included homemade apple butter, chocolate toffee peanuts, Burt's bees soap and chap stick, cozy socks, and a scented soy candle. Love it!

I really needed this after I opened my electric bill that was over $100! This really breaks my heart because I have been trying so hard to keep our usage down. I wonder if PA has the highest electricity prices in the nation? Nope, that is Hawaii. While I don't feel as bad knowing that, we moved from the state with the LOWEST utility prices so the shock is having a hard time wearing off.

More love: green tongue twins! Like father, like daughter. Ravenna received a FunDip valentine at the party that we went to this morning and she decided to share with her daddy. Can you guess what flavor it was?

A Little Dose of Ravenna: Snow

These pictures were taken after the first big snow storm and before the blizzard that dumped another two feet on top of the 20 something inches we got the first time.

Ravenna is not sure how she feels about the snow,
especially when it is so deep.

One thing she does love about the snow is dressing up in snow gear.
She also loves her Grandma Whitlock.

Broth vs. Stock

Look at that broth!
This is from the bones of a whole chicken and a turkey breast.

Do you know the difference? The terms are used pretty much interchangeably, but there is a difference. Stock is made by boiling meat, vegetables and/or herbs and broth is made by boiling only the bones, usually slowly at low temperatures. Nutritionally, broth is the way to go because by boiling only the bones you can access the marrow, which according to the Weston A. Price Foundation:

...contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons--stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.

I learned how to make my own bone broths from my friend, MommyBee who has a great tutorial on how to do this. The only thing that I might add from my own research is that if you want to cook chicken bones for more than 2 hours you need to do it at a super low temperature, as in a slow cooker. It is also important to skim off the fat to get rid of impurities and toxins.

Making a stock is pretty similar to making a broth, but you don't simmer it for as long; usually less than two hours. It is really easy to make a vegetable stock, and just as you save the bones from meat, you can save your vegetable scraps/peels and even less-than-fresh produce for a great stock. The best veggies to use for your stock are:

...onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, celery, mushrooms, peas, corn (empty corn cobs can also add lots of flavor to veg. stock), parsley, green beans, beets, bell peppers, scallions, green onions, shallots, fresh basil or other herbs, etc., etc.

I will usually just save my scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer and when I get a bag full, I cover them with water, throw in some whole spices (like a bay leaf), cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Then strain and you have a lovely stock to use in any recipe calling for it or broth. Easy! Be careful to use any scraps from the cabbage family, such as broccoli, very sparingly because they have an intense flavor. Apparently you can also can stock/broth if you have a pressure cooker.