Sunday, July 19, 2009

Introducing ~ A Return to Sunday Dinners!

Often when I talk with people about how many times a week is ideal to eat at the table with your children to give them the greatest social and health benefits, they are aghast when I say at least five times per week! Suddenly their mouth falls open, they sputter, and finally say, Who has the time? The kids have practice, we work late, the kids have homework, and I am so tired! But, I point out that the endless studies show that any less than the optimal five times a week and the negative impacts increase with each day this cornerstone ritual does not happen. Most experts agree that any less then three times a week around the table and problems overwhelm the child and often the family.


My response is always the same, Start! The trick is to be consistent with the effort and flexible with the actual delivery. Throw away all the preconceived ideas you have of being June Cleaver and find a formula that works for you and your family. Today, families come in all shapes and sizes with more diverse demands on the family time and structure than ever before. The experts advise to simply make the hard choices. I believe there is no way to avoid making these hard choices, but I also believe we need new tools, inspiration, and expectations to make it all come together for the greatest benefits to our family.


In effort to help you start building your tool box for ways of getting back around the table, I will be featuring a regular blog piece every Sunday with ideas of how to simply start gathering your family and friends around the table by beginning with the Sunday meal. This can be breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner, or potluck; whatever makes sense to your family and makes you happy! Each week I will provide visual inspiration on where and how this meal can be, provide some fun recipes or food solutions to share at home and see what I can find to get your whole family involved.

Lets take one day at a time and create a passion for place that is not dreaded, but instead a day on the calendar your whole family can look forward to!


A Return to Sunday Dinners #1


It is July and in most places in the states the weather is beautiful, so lets take our first dinner together outside! This is a challenging time with teenagers because their schedules are scattered and they want to be on the move. Younger kids are

looking for things to do, and for parents there is often still a work schedule to juggle, it can all seem a bit over the top! So lets choose for one day to slow it all down and make it casual. Involve the kids in this gathering and set up an out door dinner table. Have an evening of movies shown on the side of the house or a hung sheet. I suggest you even dig out some of the family movies for this movie night! Keep it intimate or let the kids invite friends. Then watch the fun unfold! If you don't have a projector ask your friends or local library.







After you spend some time around the outdoor table getting filled up with tasty food and the happenings of the day, have everyone grab a movie treat and pick their favorite seat. Some ideas of what you can serve,

Food and Snacks

  • Popcorn, and lots of it. Serve the popcorn in movie theater style boxes that can easily be found at party stores.
  • Movie theater size boxes of candy.
  • Hot dogs served in red plastic baskets.
  • Plates of nachos.
  • Ice cream bars.
  • Lemonade
Try making a batch of Paula Deen's Macho Nachos to spice up the evening!

Ingredients

  • 1 can refried beans
  • 1 large bag white corn tortilla chips
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 cup shredded pepper jack
  • 1 jalapeno, sliced crosswise, plus extra for garnish
  • 1 can chili, or your favorite chili recipe
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup green onion, chopped
  • 1 tomato, diced

Directions

Have all the prepped ingredients easily accessible to assemble nachos.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan over low heat, cook refried beans until they are loose enough to spoon onto nachos. On a large ovenproof platter, spread out a layer of tortilla chips and quickly put a teaspoon of hot refried beans on each chip. Working quickly, sprinkle with some onions, jack cheese, and jalapeno slices. Spoon on chili and top that with Cheddar. Repeat this layering process until ingredients are used up. Save some of the jalapeno slices for garnish. Place platter in the oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a trivet or heatproof surface. Top nachos with sour cream, green onions, diced tomato and jalapeno slices and serve hot.

Photo credits: Traditional Home, Carolyn Barber, Back Yard Movies

~ Come Gather Around the Table!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Hoodie Sweatshirt!


What a cool sweatshirt! My friend Tricia from Eating Is Art came up with this great play on word for us Portlanders to enjoy. We love our Hoodies in the Northwest and none more so than our Volcano, Mt. Hood!

To celebrate our connection to Mt.Hood, Tricia has silk screened line art of the famous peak that she created, with the word Hoodie right below it onto a navy blue hoodie. So, if you are a Hoodie or know someone who is, buy one or two of these cool hoodies and head off to Mt. Hood for a beautiful day of hiking or mountain biking this weekend up on the Hood! Click this Eating Is Art to order yours today!

~ Come Gather Around The Table!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Randy Dana in Salem this weekend!






















The depth of Randy Dana's photography is fresh and envelopes my senses! Randy is my favorite modern Fine Art Photographer. I discovered his work a little over 10 years ago and have been buying and watching him ever since. His photographs simply make me happy to look at them and take me to a deeper sense of my experience in the world. I know, a lot for a photo to do, but he makes it happen in his approach to the layers of his images. Check out his gallery on his site link above!

Randy shoots his work in his studio up in Mount Vernon, Washington and can often be found in art shows around the Northwest. This weekend you will find Randy at the Salem Art Fair and Festival at booth #34! Not to be missed!

~ Come Gather Around The Table!

AAA All Star Baseball ~ an All American Night in Portland!


Temperatures had climbed close to 90 as we filed into the PGE Stadium last night. Fried onions, cold beer, and salted popcorn beckoned to us from the concession stand as we sorted out our seats down on the field pen for special sponsors and events. Jaime's good friend Jeff had invited us with his wife and coworkers. It was a perfect evening as conversations flowed and balls sailed over head. The all star teams had several exciting moments. IL won 6-5 to the PCL, with the bottom of the ninth providing the most excitement as PCL hit a home run and gave hope of closing the point spread.

It had been years since I had been to a game. I had actually forgotten how many innings were played in a game, brilliant! Sitting and watching the crowds, and the little league player next to us who caught a ball and gave it to his little brother, brought back so much of what is rich about American values. As the national anthem was sung, and the fighter jets crossed over the stadium, it was hard not to get choked up. Thank God there were no marching bands or I might have cried!

The simplicity of coming together for a great evening of friends and baseball pretty much says it all about what is most important about our culture: family, friends, fun, easy food, clean competition, and unity. Of course this is an idyllic image of the evening. Having been away from the game long enough to forget some of the rules, I have no idea about the politics behind the scenes, but I can tell you that last night was right out of the Norman Rockwell Americana paintings for this spectator! Thanks Jeff!

Photo from KATU.

~ Come Gather Around The Table!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

We need more Female Bankers!


That's right! In Iceland there has been a complete meltdown of the financial system there with one exception, Audur Capital. What makes this bank so special, it is run by all women! An article on the founders: Halla Tomasdottir and Kristin Petursdottir caught my eye, because they attribute their success and survival to a gender difference, "Male bankers focus on their personal gain, they explain, while female bankers are committed to the health of the community." These gals are about long-term and win-win, a philosophy very dear to my heart. I have men in my life that care compassionately about their community, so I think a blanket statement about one gender or the other can be a slippery slope, but it is an interesting outcome that in this country, struggling with the very same issues of integrity and ethics that we are struggling with here in the U.S., their statement holds true!

Good financial practices begin at home!
~ Come Gather Around The Table!

Mary Jane's Chill Over Jam!

For those of you who don't know about Mary Jane, you are missing out on everything Farm Girl. She has a successful magazine called Mary Jane's Farm and her blogger, Rebekah Teal is a former lawyer and judge with a Master's of Theological Studies, who is a "down home" certified farmgirl in stiletto heals! Does this give you an idea of what you are in for!

Because it is canning season for berries here in the Northwest I thought Mary Jane's Chill Over product and recipes could be a nice addition to our traditional canning process. What makes Mary Jane's Chill Over Powder special is it is a vegetarian gelatin that looks like gelatin and tastes like it, but sets up in half the time and does not come from the animal products that regular gelatin does. You can order it on her site link above or call 1-888-750-6004.

Chillover® Strawberry Jam

2 lbs. strawberries, washed, hulled and crushed
to yield 4 cups crushed berries
2 cups organic cane sugar
2 packets MaryJane's Chillover® Powder

1. Combine crushed strawberries and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
2. Sprinkle and stir Chillover Powder into liquid and boil rapidly for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and can in sterile jars (refer to a canning manual for complete canning instructions).

Chillover® Raspberry Jam
Substitute raspberries for strawberries.

Chillover® Blackberry Jam
Substitute blackberries for strawberries.







~ Come Gather Around The Table!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sokol Blosser Wine Hike!

Sokol Blosser is one of the 5 founding wine families in Oregon. Today we joined the hiking tour of the vineyard and explored the many different fields and valleys for 3 hours. As we hiked up to the higher levels of the vineyard, we stopped at the neighboring Red Ridge Herb Garden and enjoyed their Lavender, which was part of the Lavender tour this weekend. After each hour of hiking through the grapes, we would find a couple bottles of special wine and the custom Pinot glasses for us to taste and refuel. Although the weather was cool and overcast, it could not have been more perfect for our hike! By the time we hiked, or was it staggered, back to the main building, there was a gorgeous lunch set up for us on the crush dock over looking the beautiful vineyards!















































































Sokol Blosser is an organic vineyard that is sensitive to the natural habitats of the wild life in the area. You can see Blue Bird boxes every where for one of the local commoners. Also over 1/3 of their energy needs are met with the help of their solar panels.

The day was relaxing and inspiring. The wine was amazing and after the large gourmet spread it was time for a nap! No wonder the French and Italians are such healthy people...they know how to breathe!

For a moment today I actually felt my lung fill all the way.

~ Come Gather Around The Table!