Sunday Dinner at Goss Cottage

Our dear old friends, the DeLucias

     Traditional  Sunday dinners were something I grew up with.   We didn't have them every week, but since we had our grandparents in town, it was more like a monthly thing, trading off between houses.  I'm a sucker for tradition, and a big believer in the benefits of eating together as a family, so having a sit down meal together on Sunday is a natural occurrence at our house.  Having 4 children and a close extended family, makes for many opportunities to cook for a houseful of people.  Luckily, I love cooking for crowds and I love seeing people enjoy the food I've prepared....suffice it to say...I'm perpetually happy.  I also enjoy entertaining...setting the stage for special evenings spent with family and friends. (Refer back to my November post Party Throwing Stress Relievers for help in party planning)

     Sometimes we invite friends and sometimes family, depending on who is available, sometimes both, but either way it feels like a great way to end the week and get ready to start a new one.  This week we are having our old friends the DeLucias over for dinner to take the burden of cooking off them as they wind down from of busy weekend of packing up their house as they prepare to move after 12 years in their home.  As they are faced with change in their lives, I thought it would be nice to offer up some continuity....dinner with old friends isn't going to change.



The Menu
Gluten free Spaghetti and meatballs
Simple Green salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette dressing
Garlic bread 2 ways
Gainey Pinot Noir
Strawberry Parfait with a Chocolate Covered Strawberry on Top
The soundtrack from The Godfather
(This is where you get your kids to help you.  My daughter, Natalie, thought it would be fitting to have beautiful Italian music serenading us as we break bread with our Italian friends, the DeLucias.  Suffice it to say, the mood was just perfect.)





Gluten Free Meatballs 
serves 8-10
4 links mild Italian sweet sausage
2 links hot Italian sausage
1/2 lb. organic ground turkey (dark meat, preferably)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup good quality finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. dried minced onions


Preheat oven to 325 degrees
It may be challenging to find organic meat in your town, but if you can, it is well worth the extra effort and cost.  The more we demand organic food, the more available it will become and it tastes so much better.  I use Lazy Acres, for this recipe because of all their organic meat choices.  The sausage is sold in the butchers case, where I get it, by the link, but if you don't have that option you can buy a 4 pack of sweet Italian sausage in the meat dept. of your local grocery store.  You can buy the hot sausage in the same place, but you'll have to freeze the extra 2 links for the next time you make this recipe.  In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk cheese and spices.  Squeeze the sausage out of the casings into the bowl and mix well with your hands.  You can make the meatballs any size, but I prefer for them to be golf ball size. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray and start rolling your meatballs.  Put them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  To remove excess fat, drain meatballs on paper towels.  In a medium to large sauce pan, combine meat balls with 2 jars of your favorite sauce, making sure it is gluten free.  simmer on low while you make the pasta.
Cook 1-2 packages of brown rice pasta, according to directions.  The cooked pasta will look more yellowish than usual and very starchy.  Not to worry.  Just rinse the cooked pasta and dive in.  It tastes great! (Nothing like that yucky wheat pasta!)

Remove sausage from casings

Roll meatballs about golf ball size

Cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees

Check label to make sure it's gluten free

Simple Green Salad

with Gammy's Italian Torpedo Dressing (great on Torpedo sandwiches, too)
1 head red leaf romaine
1 red onion thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste


Wash the lettuce and spin in a salad spinner or dry on paper towels.  Place lettuce in a large bowl, tearing into bite sized pieces.  Add onion, cheese, S&P and dressing and toss well.


Torpedo dressing:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried crushed oregano 

3 cloves peeled and smashed garlic (leave cloves whole but crush them to release the flavor) 

Mix all ingredients in a mason jar and shake before using.

Katheryn Gilligans Garlic Bread
1 stick butter melted
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 loaf french bread
Slice the bread, longways, with a bread knife and place on a cookie sheet.  Add the minced garlic into the butter and spread generously over the bread.  Broil on high for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
This one is always a crowd pleaser!
For my gluten free friends....do the same thing on a few slices of gluten free bread.  Not quite as amazing but it's serves the purpose.
I just found a bakery in my town, (Our Daily Bread), who will make gluten free bread in a baguette...All I had to do was ask.

Gainey Pinot Noir Specail Reserve

Strawberry Parfait with a Chocolate Covered Strawberry on Top

4 cups rinsed, hulled and sliced organic strawberries

12 strawberries, washed and completely dried

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. confectioner’s sugar (with a mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.  Don’t over mix.  On low, add the vanilla and sugar, just to blend.)

16 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

 Get out 12 nice stemmed glasses.  Presentation is important with this one.  Layer the strawberries and whipped cream, starting with the strawberries and ending with the whipped cream.  Cover each glass with plastic wrap, place on a tray and put them in the fridge.

With a bain marie or double boiler, simmer water in a pan while stirring chocolate slowly, in a glass dish, sitting over the water.  When chocolate is almost completely melted, remove from heat continuing to stir until smooth.

Dip the paper towel dried strawberries into melted chocolate to cover most of the strawberry and set on wax paper lined tray to harden.

When ready to serve, remove plastic wrap from glasses and add a chocolate dipped strawberry on top.   ~ gluten free decadence

I added a store bought gluten free cookie

    Sharing an evening of food, wine, music and conversation, with our dear friends was delightful.   We have broken bread together many times in the past and are sure to do so many times in the future, but the warm feelings extended between our families will never get old.

Dave and Morgan shooting the breeze

Flavored olive oil for dipping

It does my heart good to see such concentrated eating ~

My bosom friend, Nancy and I! 
(Nancy is a fellow blogger and has a very popular  
cooking blog @ nancynewcomer.com, and on Facebook 
@Back To The Kitchen: my farmers market meals. 
For great tips and meal ideas check her out.)

Tradition, my friends, tradition... it's the spice of life

Happy Saint Patty's Day

     Celebrate the day and our Irish ancestory, whether you're Irish or not, by wearing something green, enjoying some green beer, cornbeef and cabbage, and/or a Shamrock shake! 


Shamrock Shake Recipe 

Yes, I acknowledge the Shamrock Shake originated at McDonald's, but because my mother was the thrifty woman she was (& is), we always had the homemade version.  

In the blender, add 2 scoops vanilla ice cream, 2 scoops mint chip ice cream, 1 cup milk, 1 cup lemon lime soda, and 3 Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies and blend.  Serve in a tall glass with whipped cream on top and a couple of extra Thin Mints! 

Faith and Begorrah, that's good!

An Irish Blessing

May you always have walls for the winds,

a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire.

~ and may there be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow ~

Americana : 100 Years of Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low awarding one of her Girl Scouts

Self-portrait of Juliette

   "I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!", proclaimed Juliette Gordon Low to a cousin on March 12, 1912.   Girl Scouts, one of America's greatest organizations, is turning 100, today, March 12, 2012.   It's founder, Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouts, originally called the Girl Guides, after being introduced to their prototype when she was living in England.  Recently widowed,  and without any children of her own, Juliette wanted to do something meaningful with herself.  So being the good citizen she was, Juliette decided to make a patriotic contribution to her country by starting a program to help girls become involved citizens and patriotic Americans.   Juliette was one of our greatest leaders in promoting the independence and capabilities of the female sex.  In a time when women didn't even have the right to vote, Girl Scouts was telling girls their ideas were not only important,  but vital to the success of our country and the world, for that matter.  Juliette told her scouts they could do anything and encouraged them to "prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women- in the arts, sciences, and business- and for active citizenship outside the home," telling them they could do anything they wanted if they worked at it.   Juliette developed the girls' resourcefulness, self-reliance, and competence outdoors, while also insisting they create and maintain a sisterhood to fellow girl scouts and sisters all over the world.  Girl Scouts was a forward thinking organization from the very start, welcoming girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded from many other activities.   Juliette was considered legally deaf after suffering 2 unlikely accidents which alternately took the hearing from both of her ears, so the idea of allowing the disabled into her organization "seemed quite natural to Juliette", because she never let her deafness limit her from anything she wanted to do, so why limit others? Juliette said,"right is right, even if no one else does it." No obstacle was too high for Juliette.  Juliette started the Girl Scouts when she was a whopping 51 years old, (that was considered even older in her time), just after her husband died leaving his entire estate to another woman (she contested the will and after a hard battle, was awarded part of the estate),  so she had to sell her precious set of family pearls to fund her new pet project. Women owe a lot to trailblazing women like Juliette Gordon Low and  her example of determination, spirit and guts. 
     

Bravo, Juliette!

     Between the years 1917-1979, the Girl Scout organization maintained a periodical called The American Girl. (It was first called The Rally and later just, American Girl)  It was one of the first and most widely read publications aimed primarily at teen-aged girls.  Though not affiliated with the current version of American Girl magazine or the related popular dolls that celebrate girls through the ages, it isn't a big leap to assume the Girl Scout version of the magazine  and Girl Scouts themselves, served as the inspiration for both. 

1931

1932

    

1964

1961

A current publication of
American Girl magazine

     I am proud to say this is my 3rd year as a Girl Scout leader, sharing the role with 8 other co-leaders.   We are a like minded group of women who are interested in teaching our girls about nature, civic duty, and loyalty to each other.  My daughter Lizzie, who has graduated from Daisy to Brownie, has gained a lot from her time as a Girl Scout.  Our girls are learning how to be good citizens, by visiting old folks homes, where they sing, deliver handmade notes and flowers,  hold peoples hands and share their time; by helping keep the Earth beautiful, by trash collecting, gardening,  and recycling; and by donating their hard earned cookie sales money to worthy causes such as our school, animal shelters, food banks, and homeless shelters, keeping just a little for their own pleasure.  Our girls have learned how to appreciate the great out doors. 

Our backyard sleepover where we learned some outdoor training

They have been trained to put up a tent, to recognize local flora and fauna, hike our trails and creeks, to light a match, to read a compass, and to love every minute of it.  We have learned about and celebrated other cultures by participating in Thinking Day, a national Girl Scout event, held locally, where each troop wears the native dress, serves food and shares some information from the country they are representing.  What a fun way to learn about the world.  We celebrated our troop's diversity by having a holiday party where we talked about our family's holiday traditions and shared a favorite dish. 

Playing the Dredle game

Learning about our family's cultural traditions

Our troop shares their favorite holiday dishes

Alternately singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs

We have learned about civic duty by feeding our local firemen, participating in parades and next week we will have the honor of leading our 1st official flag cermony at our elementary school, where we will also lead the group with a rousing rendition of She's a Grand Old Flag. 

      Girls Scouts are popular for their support of young girls all over the world and throughout the ages, but they are probably best known for their iconic cookies.  As my daughter set up a booth to sell cookies at a well traveled intersection in our neighborhood, we almost caused a few accidents as people made wild u-turns and skidding stops once they saw what we were selling.  "I saw the Thin Mints and had to stop!", they would often exclaim.  Most of us dread fundraising because it seems like we're constantly asking friends, family and complete strangers to support this effort or that, but selling Girl Scout Cookies is like taking candy from a baby.  People actually anticipate it and it's a real learning experience for the girls.  By selling cookies the girls learn how to set goals, to be responsible for and deal with money, and to speak up and be assertive while always being polite.  Our girls ask for cookie donations for a local charity and for our soldiers abroad.  This year my daughter, Lizzie,  set a goal of donating at least 7 cases of Girl Scout Cookies to our soldiers.  She was able to exceed her goal and donate just under 12 cases.  

Lizzie with a personal message for the troops

     Last week, I co - led our Brownie meeting at my house, with 2 other leaders.  The meeting was focused on learning about our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, and celebrating the 100th year birthday of Girl Scouts.  We followed the timeline on girlscouts.org, that highlighted the life of JGL, as the girls cut out vintage Girl Scout paper dolls that I had purchased the year before, while visiting the historic home of JGL in Savannah, Georgia.   We decorated cupcakes and then passed out birthday candles, preparing to sing happy birthday to Girl Scouts.  Lynette, my co-leader, who had dressed up as Juliette Gordon Low, gave the girls a lesson on how to properly light a match.  We lit our candles and blew them out...myself, making the wish for at least 100 more years of Girl Scouts.

Cutting out paper dolls

Learning to light a match

     The past, present and future Girl Scouts, mothers of daughters, and women of the world, salute you, Juliette Gordon Low.

Girl Scout troop #1

Girl Scout troop #50724

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

A Tree for the Future

Every spring

The sap rises in the trees

From root to branch

And makes a tree that looks dead

Blossom with green leaves

And life.

So it is that the Scouting Spirit

Rises within you and

Inspires you to put forth

Your best.

                                                     ~Juliette Gordon Low

                                                            

     If you'd like to learn more about the amazing woman who was Juliette Gordon Low, I would recommend,  Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts and Lady from Savannah: The Life of Juliette Low, for adults and for children, Juliette Low, Girl Scouts Founder, of the Young Patriots series.

  

Spring Cleaning Tips

     Around here, in  Santa Barbara, California, it never really felt like Winter because of our extremely mild weather this year, but as I look at the calendar I can see it's almost  Spring. Time to air-out, de-clutter and scrub the old homestead clean.  Here are 10 simple tips to help you...
1. Get a vintage enameled bucket, some hand milled french soap, and cleaning solution that looks more like honey than soap, so your mess looks darling even if you don't get around to cleaning.
2. Hire someone to clean your house for you, top to bottom, and don't let them cut any corners.  You go to a spa and get some much needed R&R.  Now that's what I call easy!!
3. or...throw everything out, furniture and all, vacuum, paint and totally redecorate...talk about fresh.

Just kidding, though it does sound tempting....

1. Strip the beds.  Wash the linens, including the duvet cover, pillows & pillow shams, mattress pad and blankets. (let your sheets line dry if you have a place to hang them.) Take comforters to the dry cleaners or launder them yourself at the launder mat.  Fresh linen is such a treat.




2. Vacuum and air out your mattress.  If it is too difficult to get the mattresses outside, as it is at our house, just open all the windows and let in good old-fashioned fresh air!

Ahhh...

3. Vacuum under the bed and other furniture.  Dust really accumulates over the course of a year.  Use that nozzle and really get into the corners.  Your allergies might be alleviated!




4. On a sunny day, shake out area rugs outdoors and let them air for a few hours.

5. Check the condition of your bathroom and kitchen towels and replace them if they are looking to shabby.  Hand towels and kitchen tea towels can be revived by washing, line drying and ironing.  Throw away those burned and food encrusted potholders and invest in new ones.




6. Use that setting on your oven : Self-clean.  It's really pretty darn easy, you just need to be reminded to do it (-:  If your oven racks are still shiny, take them out before turning on the self-clean or they'll get a dull finish. Wash them by hand.




7.  Bring a little of the outdoors in.  Buy a potted tree or flowering plant to add a little oxygen to any room.  I love fresh live greenery in the house, but must admit it will only be a short while before I kill them.  It won't stop me from optimistically trying again, but maybe this will be the year I sprout a green thumb.




8. Clean out that stinky old refrigerator! Don't be lazy, wash out those old bottles of marinade, salad dressing, bbq sauce, etc., and  recycle when you can, that includes putting old veggies and fruit into the compost bin, and scrub that thing until it sparkles.   It's amazing how much more motivated to cook I am when I know what I have and my surroundings are clean.  My refrigerator is 15+ years old and sometimes I want a new one, but like I've said in the past, I love the look of things that are well used and have a patina.  My refrigerator is so old it's almost cool.  One less thing in the landfill!

Maybe one day my frig will
seem as neat as this one.

9. Purge your pantry.  Take everything out and wash down the shelves.  Use or get rid of things you haven't used in 6 months.  The food pantries are in desparate need of food, so take your extras to them and do a good deed while you unclutter.   Buy a couple of new boxes of baking soda: one for your pantry and one to open in your nice clean frig to soak up odors.  Poor the old box down your garbage disposal drain to get rid of bad smells.  An added bonus is all the extra room, which is at a primeum at my house.  When everything is simplified and put back in an organized way, it is thrilling to have so much extra space.  I know I'm probably a little weird, but I can't stop looking at my clean refrigerator and pantry...fabulous!




10. Clean out your closet and dresser drawers.  Less is more.  One of the reasons doing laundry is such a pain, is because it is always so hard to put everything away.  I realized that I could never have all the laundry done at once because there isn't enough room to put everything away.  If there was room in the closet and dresser to easily put my clean clothes away, it would be no problem.  So like the pantry, if you haven't worn something in a year, bye bye.  Get rid of it.  Pull everything out, and only put back what you really need and love.  I try hanging the stuff in my closet, by color.  It's easier to find what your looking for that way and it looks good, too.  You can donate your unwanted clothes to the local shelter or sell them to a consignment shop.  If you're like me, it will seem like you have a whole new wardrobe because of all the old clothes you rediscover.

This list of chores may seem like an overwhelming hurdle to tackle.  Just pick a couple of things per weekend and before you know it, your house will be clean and organized...ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

Good luck and happy cleaning!