Breakfast in Bed! What a treat!

My kids brought us breakfast in bed on Saturday! WOW!!!! What a treat! We finally got our “new” dog to sleep in. She likes to get up at 5:30 and eat – but this Saturday we got her to let us all sleep until 7:30! YIPPEE! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen 7:30 from in my bed! The kids snuck in while Rick and I were chatting and enjoying the slow pace of Saturday morning. They were very excited about serving us. And so was I, until I thought about the clean up I would surely face later. But, there’s only one time which is the first time your children bring you breakfast – or anything other than nightmares – to bed. I had made whole wheat blueberry and banana muffins the previous day so I knew we had something in the kitchen they could handle. But, I really felt like fruit – not muffins. I suggested they peel some bananas, slice them in two bowls; add a little maple syrup and walnuts to mine and a few raisins and soy milk to Dad’s bowl. What a wonderful job they did and how exciting it was for me to realize they were slowly becoming self-sufficient! We only lost half of a banana to the floor and my banana chunks were floating in maple syrup and covered with pecans – but with great enthusiasm we cherished the moment!

Me and my cantaloupe!

I went into my local produce market today and got really excited to see Florida cantaloupes! You don’t often see cantaloupes and excited in the same sentence but after a long winter of apples, bananas and pineapples I do get a little enthusiastic when spring and summer fruits begin appearing in the stores. I never really knew how much I liked cantaloupes until I tasted one which was grown right here in the good old USA. When we owned our own produce market we had a customer we called the cantaloupe guy. He would appear each year when cantaloupe season began. Every visit, he would buy 6 to 8 cantaloupes. I used to think he was odd, now I think I may be just like him!

Locally grown cantaloupes are nothing like their off shore counterparts. Fresh, local cantaloupes are often only 1 day from the vine when they appear in the produce market. How do I pick a cantaloupe? First, I look for a local melon with a nice round shape and no bruises or soft spots. (I NEVER shake a cantaloupe. Shaking a cantaloupe does nothing but loosens the seeds and causes the melon to ROT rather than ripen.) Depending on how long before I eat it, I choose a color. The greener the skin, the longer the melon will take to ripen. Then I take it home and let it ripen on my counter or even in my refrigerator. Once the skin begins to turn yellow and dimple I know the cantaloupe is ready to eat. I can even begin to taste it as I prepare to carve it. Take my advice and treat yourself to a locally grown cantaloupe and see if you don’t start using excited and cantaloupe in the same sentence!

OSSP Camping Trip

We just got back from a week long family camping trip and what a wonderful time we had! We stayed on the west coast of Florida for 5 nights in Oscar Sheerer State Park. It was a beautiful campground with shady, private campsites. We saw cardinals, cat birds, owls, herons, egrets, raccoons, cotton tail rabbits, armadillos and alligators, to name a small portion of the abundant wildlife. We went canoeing, fishing, swimming, shell and fossilized shark tooth collecting, sunset watching, hiking and even on an airboat ride. To say that our week was full of adventure would be a slight understatement. I’m not sure what activities we liked the best. All of the adventures blended together into a family memory which will not soon be forgotten. It was wonderful to be able to indulge ourselves in full days without aches, pains or other ailments sometimes associated with active vacations. Having children later in life has been full of challenges, but because of our commitment to a healthy and vibrant lifestyle, none of the challenges have been related to those commonly associated with aging. Now that I’ve had a few moments to reflect, I think all of us would say that our favorite activity was tuning into an “oldies” radio station and dancing in the car to some songs that reminded us of our life long before children. Somehow, the songs seemed richer and certainly more memorable when shared with our children with great enthusiasm and vigor. I never knew a 6 year old and 8 year old could be so creative while “dancing” in their car seats!

Getting Ready to Podcast

I am getting ready to start podcasting. At least I think I am. I tried tonight while cooking dinner to create a podcast about making dinner. It was a lot of fun. We’ll have to wait and see how it turned out. I was making stewed apples or what I sometimes call fried apples. It’s one of my kids’ favorite foods. We have friends whose kids love them too. Anyway, I had apples that we didn’t particularly care for, so we decided that they would taste great stewed. The apples were a little too tart. They were not as tart as a Granny Smith apple, but they were not as sweet as we like. So, while peeling and paring and stewing, I tried to teach a quick class on a wide variety of topics. I think I covered, or attempted to cover, the different types of common apples and what to use them for, the different types of vegan butter substitutes, the benefits of cast iron cooking, the types of vegetable/fruit peelers I like the best and how to thicken stewing juices quickly. Just a few topics to cover in less than 15 minutes, while preparing dinner and fielding requests from hungry children. Well, time will tell how it turned out. Not sure I am ready for the big time yet. But, hey, it’s always fun to gather in my kitchen and talk.

Check out my podcasts at Veg4health.libsyn.com.

The Joy of Pressure Cookers

If I could only keep one pot in my whole kitchen, without a doubt, I would keep my Pressure cooker. I can’t imagine what it would be like to prepare a whole meal without it. It’s hard for me to believe that I was over 40 before I ever even heard of pressure cookers. We owned our own large produce market and the kindest old gentlemen in the world introduced me to the wonders of pressure cooking. Mr. Pierce had purchased some green peanuts from us, and had returned with a sample of his recently “boiled peanuts”. Whether you are a fan of boiled peanuts or not, suffice it to say that they were the best boiled peanuts I have ever eaten. At my delightful ravings, Mr. Pierce cheerfully shared his secret – the pressure cooker. Not only did he educate me about pressure cookers, but he returned once again with one of his pressure cookers for me to try. I have been hooked ever since. There are lots of reasons why I like my pressure cooker. Pressure cookers cook food incredibly fast, they do not heat up my Florida kitchen, they produce tastier dishes, they seal in the vitamins and minerals normally lost during prolonged cooking and they leave my stovetop neater and cleaner than normal cooking pots do.

How do pressure cookers work? Pressure cookers simply cook foods faster than normal pots by cooking under high pressure and high temperature. Pressure cookers have a more elaborate lid than most cooking pots which provide a complete seal to the pot. By completely sealing the pot with a gasket and locking mechanism, the steam created during heating in a pressure cooker is trapped. This trapped steam builds up pressure within the pot and thereby increases the temperature of boiling water from 212 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Under this high pressure and temperature, the fiber in the food is tenderized and the food is cooked in record time with incredible flavor and with very little steam released into the kitchen. Once the food is done, the cooker is removed from the heat source and the steam must be released before the lid can be removed. The steam is released either through a quick release method (using the cooker’s special valve or placing in the sink under running water) or through the natural release method (the pressure eventually drops as the cooker cools). Once the pressure is released, unlock and open the pressure cooker. Read more about this wonderful tool here.