WWRW and My Five Favorites Mason Jar Edition

It's been a crazy week here.  I can honestly say the only books I've read this week are picture books for Jill and a free e-book on my Kindle. I downloaded Salads To Go last November, but it sure came in handy this first week of school.

This little e-book has great recipes for mason jar salads, using international flavors to add variety.  As you know, I'm always on a quest to change up the lunchbox scene, trying to avoid the mundane square sandwich.

I've got three girls in high school this year.  (Need any drama?  I'm sure I'll have extra.) We whipped up some mason jar salads for day 2 of school.

I used a Salads To Go recipe for vinaigrette, then we layered red peppers, tomatoes, avocado, chicken, mozzarella (cut-up string cheese), and baby spinach.  The after-school verdict was "delicious" and "maybe a little too much food" for my skinny Spaniard.

The one key point missing from Salads To Go was what size jar to get.  Pinterest led me to this article that revealed the magic size is a quart jar.

I picked up 12 jars for $10 and change and Walmart. Ball mason jars are BPA free and dishwasher safe, not to mention a lot cheaper than the Pyrex my kids (and spouse) been losing at school (and work) for years.

That's my first favorite.

2.

At Peter's graduation party, I used half pint sized jars, $.50 boxes of Crayolas, and all those school pictures I've been collecting over the years for table decor.  We covered the tables with brown craft paper, and the kids, teens, and even the odd adult took advantage.

3.  

I used pint-sized jars, raffia, and Gerber daisies from Costco for centerpieces for Polly's baptism.  Her real name means daisy.  Get it?  Daisies?

4. 

I found this Mason Jar Flower Frog at my local gardening store, but you can get them from Amazon too.

I just stuck a few cosmos from the garden in there.  I'm going to be growing a lot more cosmos next year, they did much better than my marigolds.

5.  

The last way I like to use mason jars is for my favorite beverage.  Unsweetened iced tea.  Made with Lipton.  I'm not fancy.

Anyhoo.  I'm linking this link-up with Heather.  

Also, Micaela is going to link-up a new and fabulous on-line book club today!  Please check it out, I'm in it. You should be too.

An InLinkz Link-up

Five Favorites: Amazon Instant Video style!

Last week, Dwija shared her switch from Netflix to Amazon Instant Video which is free to Amazon Prime subscribers.  Now, Amazon doesn't give me a dime, and since Illinois has crazy laws, they probably never will, but I am a huge AIV fan.  Here are five reasons why.

1. Duck Dynasty

If you haven't seen this crazy Christian family of rednecks, you're in for a treat.  My family loves them.  Can you keep a secret?  Duck Dynasty is our top pick for our trivia night costume theme this year.

2.  Mister Roger's Neighborhood

I loved him as a child, I love him now.  My idea of Jesus is a slightly more macho version of Mr. Rogers with facial hair.  Go ahead, judge my spiritual development.  Mr. Rogers and Jesus love me just the way I am.  Jill is totally absorbed by this program, and I keep finding Edmund watching it as well.

3.  Reading Rainbow

Ox-Cart Man will forever be my favorite episode of this educational show hosted by Levar Burton.  Plus, I think we can all agree that this is the greatest theme song of all time:

4.  Little Bear

Personally, I like the books better, but Jill likes it, so I'm not complaining.

5.  Larkrise to Candleford

My smart-alecky teens call this show Larkfart to Candlerise, but they are getting sucked into this late 19th century rural British world too.  Gentle and peaceful, the poor village of Larkrise and the slightly wealthier town of Candleford are both filled with GOOD characters.  They have flaws and character defects, but everyone is basically good!  That doesn't mean the storylines are short on drama!  No, indeed.  Tension, romance, intrigue, but in a peaceful place with likable people.  I want to go to there.

You will recognize 40% of the actors from other shows like Dr. Who, Downton Abbey, and movies like Hot Fuzz.

Linking up with Hallie and friends for Five Favorites.

Five Favorites

1.

YOU GUYS!  You have to try this.  It's Stiegl Radler Grapefruit Beer, and it is the BombDotCom!  

It's crisp and citrusy and refreshing and light and it makes me very happy.  I am certain that they are serving this in Paradise.  Stiegl Radler has a very low alcohol content.  At 2% for cans and 2.5% draft, I could sip this all day.  I really could, but it's a little pricey.  

You can read about Stiegl Radler here, but in case you don't bother to click on the link, I want to direct your attention to this quote:

In fact, the German translation of “Radler” is “cyclist,” and the beer is often referred to as a “bicycle beer” because bicyclists prefer this style of beer as they bike the Alps.

Imagine biking through the Alps with me as we sip our grapefruit beer and yodel!

2.  Or maybe instead of yodeling, you and I could do this:

3.  Family Reunion is coming up.  You know what that means?  It means lots of the above with plenty of this:

Seriously.  Several people in the Fam have their unique goat scream.

And we're proud of it.

We are like the Von Trapps of goat noises.  It's a gift.

4.  Since this post has quickly devolved from high class beer connoisseur to silly youtube videos, I'm going to throw in some children's toys now.

These are about 2 inches.  Precious.

Schleich Animals are well-crafted, lifelike renditions of most species of animal your child wants to play, including dozens of dinosaurs and the occasional pegasus or unicorn.  They are really quite beautiful.

Plus, the "Mixed Breed Dog"  looks exactly like our Mickey dog.

Since Wal Mart started carrying them, Jill has amassed quite the collection of farm beasts and family units.  Wal Mart has a limited selection, but you can find practically any creature you want at reallygreattoys.com.  I highly recommend the Really Great Toys online store. You can't get the Mickey dog at Wal Mart anyway.

Jill identifies this group as "Daddy, Mommy, Jill, and Edmund."  The "Daddy" has a real silver back.

Our plastic animal collection began when Peter was a wee tot.  The Schleich figures have lasted the longest and survived the most abuse while retaining their limbs and their color, with the occasional gnawed on ear or antler.

My mother-in-law has a basket of horses, a basket of dogs, and a basket of farm critters for the grandkids to play with and sort.  Jill loves those baskets.

5.  At least eight years ago or more, Edmund received the Melissa and Doug Barn as a gift.

These animals haven't endured the stress over the years as well as the Schleich animals, but the barn is still in business.  (The goat and the sheep never stood up straight, ever.)

Missing only one handle, Jill uses this barn for farm animals, African animals, the My Pretty Pony that came in a Happy Meal, and Disney princesses.

Speaking of Disney princesses, shouldn't someone be making a glamorized version of our Catholic princesses?  I'd really appreciate it if Jill was kissing Princess Margaret of Scotland or Princess Kateri Tekakwitha at bedtime rather than Belle or Pocahontas.   Any designers of plastic figures out there who want to collaborate with me on this idea?

Linking up with Hallie and the girls for

*I think I can avoid housework long enough to finish my book and post a #WWRW today.  Time will tell.  Tiiiiiiiiiiime is on my side, yes it is.....

7QuickTakes + 5Favorites

1.  My sweet and thoughtful friend, Texas Rose, gave me a gift subscription to Birchbox for my birthday!

Birchbox is like a "cosmetic sample of the month" club.  Once a month, I get a lovely little package with trial size beauty products chosen just for me.  I had to fill out a preference page, so the folks at Birchbox have an idea of what I like.

I liked everything that came in this first box.  Some of the items I loved, so I went back to the Birchbox website to order some full-size versions.

If you order something that was in your monthly Birchbox, you don't pay any shipping.

Birchbox makes a lovely birthday or shower gift.  If you'd like to order one for yourself or a friend, use this link, and I get points toward my next potion purchases.

2.  This is my full size order that came today.

I received the Whish Shave Cream in blueberry in my sample box.  The product was wonderful, but the blueberry fragrance was not my favorite flavor.  Undeterred, I ordered the full-size version in pomegranate.

3.  I also ordered the Color Club four pack of pastel neon nail polishes.  The green color, "London Calling" had come in my box.  Lucy loves it, as do I.  Susan is absolutely addicted to neon nail polishes lately, so I cannot wait to share these with her when she comes home on Wednesday.  *Happy Dance*

The operative word is "share."

Cut me some slack.  It's very hard to paint one's own right hand.

This orange color is called "The Reign in Spain."

You may have noticed I also ordered Miss Jessie's Jelly Soft Curls.  Well, that wasn't in my box, but I'm desperate for some kind of frizz control.  If this doesn't work, I may have to take Anne's advice and get the Keratin Treatment.

4.  Why are razor blades the single most expensive toiletry item for men?  Why do they break the bank at $50 a multi-pack at Costco?

The girls and I are perfectly content with Bic Soleil, which are about $2 each, but the Chef likes his Gillette 3000 or other comparably posh brand.

Enter Dollar Shave Club.

Like Birchbox for men (Birchbox does have a box for men feature, by the way), the Dollar Shave Club sends razors and refills to your door on a monthly basis.

Patrick got his first delivery this week.

For $6 a month, he gets one razor and four blades.  I don't think he goes through blades that quickly, so once we amass a stockpile, I'll probably cancel the subscription for awhile.

You can choose between $1 a month (plus shipping with this option only), the $6 plan, or the deluxe $9 version.

I don't know what Patrick thinks about the product, but I haven't heard any complaints.  I am especially pleased with the price.

Also, the commercial for Dollar Shave Club is hilarious.

If you subscribe to Dollar Shave Club though this link, I get $5 credit towards Patrick's beardbusters.

5.

The Cadillac of charcoal grills

We eat grilled food at least once a week all year round.  Yes, even in the dead of winter, you can find Patrick grilling rink-side.

During the summer months, we probably grill five to seven times a week.  Four of my five children know how to light the coals.  We use a propane starter, but it's still a good 30-45 minutes before the coals are ready.

Lately, I've been wondering if there isn't a way to make the process speedier and more cost effective.

I've been thinking about going over to the dark side, the gas grill side, even though my husband, aka Archbishop LeGrille wrote an encyclical called Grillitatis Splendor, in which using a gas grill is the cooking equivalent of using artificial contraception.

Then someone I know and trust linked to this article on charcoal grilling on Wired.com.

Guaiacol is an aroma compound produced when you use heat to break down lignin, the resin responsible for holding strands of cellulose together to form wood. “It has a smoky, spicy, baconyaroma,” says Sacks. “In fact, the flavor that most people associate with bacon is largely degraded lignin.”
Translation: Cooking over charcoal makes your food taste like bacon. Let me repeat that: blah blah charcoal blah blah BACON.

Did you read that?  blah blah charcoal blah blah BACON.

I can't argue with that.

6.  Until I read this article, also from Wired.com.

 Fourth of July is hobby grilling.  But what about the 22nd of June, or the 12th of August — when temps are in the 80s and all you want is to be in your backyard with a beer and a hunk of meat to cook? Instead, it’s 6 p.m., you’re at the office, the kids need to eat by 7, and you still have to go to the store.
This, my friend, is why a gas grill rules.

This quote clinches it for me:

I can walk in my door with a bag of groceries at 6:30, and have grilled chicken on the table at 7, a happy family praising a delicious dinner. The most precious commodity in the world, the one resource that none of us has enough of, that’s constantly dwindling until we die, is time.A gas grill claws back time for you every time you use it. Grill three times a week over the course of a summer, and you’ll have saved yourself a full day. A day! Think of what you can do with an extra day, provided to you by your gas grill.

So basically, if you want your food to taste like bacon (which I do, believe me, I do) you should fire up the Weber Kettle.  But if you need a time machine, the microwave of grills, if you will, you need a propane grill.

What about cost?

I know that gas grills cost a lot more up front, but I'm hauling home 20lb. sacks of coals to the tune of $15-$20 a week.  Googled it.  Yup.  Just as I suspected.  I'm bleeding money.

Gas grills typically cost more than charcoal grills, but they cost less to use. Assuming that it costs $15USD to fill a 20 pound propane bottle that gives you 25 cookouts and that 20 pounds of charcoal runs around $10USD and gives you three cookouts you will spend about $.60USD per every time you fire up the gas grill and around $3.50 on the charcoal grill. If you grilled every week you would spend $31.20USD in propane or $182USD on charcoal. Of course there is more to the Gas versus Charcoal debate than cost, but if you grill a lot gas is far more economical.

Wait a minute.  This line, from the very same page, can't be true.

Fuel Efficiency
You can greatly reduce your fuel expense for your grill by avoiding excessive preheating. Most gas grills are ready to cook in 5 to 10 minutes, and most charcoal is ready in about 15 minutes. If you are ready to cook the second your grill is, and you turn your grill off as soon as you are done you can reduce your fuel consumption greatly. When using charcoal, only use as much as you absolutely need. Most grills will cook great on about 5 pounds of charcoal. It also helps if you have a charcoal grill that can be shut down (see the next item). Conserve fuel and grill more.

Most charcoal is ready in about 15 minutes?  What am I doing wrong?

According to Mr. K. C. Masterpiece,

How to Tell When Coals Are Ready

• Good quality charcoal briquets – like new Kingsford® Sure Fire Charcoal – should be ready in about 15 minutes. They should be at least 70 percent covered with ash and have a slight red glow.
• To estimate the temperature of the coals, hold your hand, palm side down, about six inches above the coals. Count "one thousand one, one thousand two, etc.," until the heat is uncomfortable and you have to pull your hand away. If you can keep your hand in place for:
• 2 seconds – it's hot, about 375 degrees or more
• 3 seconds – it's medium-hot, about 350 to 375 degrees
• 4 seconds – it's medium, about 300 to 350 degrees
• 5 seconds – it's low, about 200 to 300 degrees

I'll have to check this out.  We usually wait until the coals are completely white/grey with ash.  As I said, that can take 45 minutes.  

But FIFTEEN!  minutes?  I highly doubt it.  

Mr. K. C. Masterpiece is probably drinking buddies with Mr. Christopher Kimball over at the America's Test Kitchen conglomerate.  

Mr. Kimball frequently tells me things like, "simmer until reduced by half, about 5-7 minutes."  

My food tastes damn good, but the times are always off.

Mr. Kimball is a pathological liar.

I cook on a bares bones Frigidaire gas stovetop that sags a wee bit in the middle (because some child stood on it to access verboten treats).  What takes Mr. Kimball an easy 5 to 7, takes me 30 to 40 ev.er.y.time.  I'm pretty sure the fancy-pants-blowtorch-with-burners that he's using has a lot more firepower than my home stove.

For example, Mr. Kimball's magazine states that the Alabama Chicken (June/July 2006) will be ready to eat after 45 minutes on the grill.  I don't know what went wrong on Independence Day this year, but those bird parts took at least twice that long, more like four times that long.  

We are picky about chicken though.  We like it well-done but still juicy.  No pink.  Hopefully, that's the way Chris likes it too.

Call me a skeptic, but I sincerely doubt my coals will be covered with 70% ash after 15 minutes. Maybe if I lit like 10 coals.  The man I married likes his fires BIG and indirect.  Always indirect.  That's a technical term for banked up against the side of your Weber Kettle.

Methinks I need a gas grill.

7.

I'm a teacher, but I'm still totally boss.

If you didn't see this NPR piece on a teacher who wore the same outfit to Picture Day every year for forty years, here you go.  This man puts hipsters to shame.

Linking up with Hallie for Five Favorites and Jen for 7 Quick Takes Friday.

Five Favorites

1.  Charlotte introduced me to the concept of an Ikea Hack, which led me to the Ikeahackers website, which led me to this.  A solid wood dresser for $99 painted to look even better than the real thing.  I have the desire, but do I have the skill?  Time will tell.

But I won't be doing the numbers.  KISS:  Keep It Simple Stupid.

2.  Tasha picked this week's Mystery Ingredient for Mystery Ingredient Monday.  Imma not gonna tell you what it is.  Clicky your own self over there.  Hint:  It's an herb known for it's medicinal properties, and it's legal.

3.  I inherited a lot of my sister Mary's toiletry and personal items including a huge cache of OPI polishes, a 1 -inch hair straightener, and this.  

This is a Beautique pencil sharpener.  It's made of metal and made in Germany.  Like everything you'd expect from a German company, this pencil sharpener marries form and function.  It has two blades.  Need to sharpen an eyebrow pencil, lip pencil, or regular No. 2 pencil?  You're set.  Need to sharpen a Clinique Chubby Stick or my next favorite-a thick eyeliner pencil?  Flip over your Beautique metal sharpener and there is another blade with a wide opening for thicker pencils. 

It is so nifty, I'm thinking of stocking stuffer for my teens, or Easter basket goodies, or tiny tokens of friendship for my girlfriends, or next year's teacher gifts.  That's how nifty it is.  Maybe that's how Mary got it in the first place, as a tiny teacher gift.

4.  

Like my mother and grandmother before me, I have deep set eyes.  That means no dark eye shadows, or I look like Skeletor.  It also means that a lot of eye pencils rub off on my eyelids.  Weird, I know.  Enter Bare Minerals Round the Clock Waterproof Eyeliner.  

Yes, it got terrible reviews.  It is a very soft pencil that takes a certain skill level.  Like using a Cray Pas on your eyelids.  I think that's why I like it.  I can make the line thinner or thicker by controlling the pressure.  Also, it does NOT rub off on my eyelids.  It stays just where I put it all day long.

5.

I will not pay the $25 to become a Barnes & Noble preferred member or whatever it is, but the Barnes & Noble Kids' Club requires no sign-up fee!  You just sign up!

Just for signing up, I got a 30% of one item coupon which I used on these Boikido blocks.

Jill loves them.  She sorts them by color.  She sorts them by shape.  She makes little towers for her Disney Princess, Littlest Pet Shop, and Polly Pocket hand-me-downs.  Bonus:  They come with their own drawstring storage bag.

Linking up with Hallie and the goyles.

Five Favorites

1.  Ranunculus.

Like roses, but older fashioned.

2.

This Goji berry-Tarocco Orange candle scent at Anthropologie.

3.  Fish Tacos.

The name is abrasive and conjures up images of this guy peeking out of a hard shell.  

But imagine soft corn tortillas, loads of cilantro, tiny pieces of red onion, thinly sliced fresh cabbage, and spicy blackened tilapia chunks.

That's what I'm talking about.  I got mine at The Patio.

4.  A BACON OF THE MONTH CLUB MEMBERSHIP!  WHAAAA?!?!?!

Yes, there is one, and I am the fortunate girl whose siblings enrolled her into such a magical thing for her birthday!  

5.  My window boxes.

In an effort to the rear end of my house look less ghetto, the Chef hung my new window boxes and I invested in some coco liner and annuals.  Arent' they beautiful, though a little rain drenched after our second night of spring thunderstorms?

I can enjoy them from inside and out.

  

Linking up with the lovely Hallie at Moxie Wife.