Friday Food-Alfredo

Finished (and delicious!) final product!

 I love alfredo, with or without chicken. There's something about the creamy, garlicy sauce that ranks right up there with my all time favorite comfort foods. 

Yes, I could buy the jarred sauce in a store. But it's never the same. (Not enough parmesan or garlic! And so many unnecessary preservatives.)

• 1/4 Cup butter
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream (here's a link for substitutes)
• 1 Clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 Cups grated Parmesan
• Boil water for noodles
• Cook the noodles

Sautee the butter and garlic

Sautee the butter & garlic!

• In a medium saucepan, combine the butter/garlic mixture and the cream.
• Stir it all well and add Parmesan. 

Taste it. 😉 Add more garlic or cheese to taste. 

New research books!

Please don't ask how large my TBR pile is. No one needs to know that. Not even, apparently, me, as I keep buying fun new titles. Some are fiction (I listen to a lot of historical romance via Libro.fm). Some are research books I like. Yes, I usually borrow many (fiction and nonfiction) through my library system. Inter Library Loan is your wallets BFF.

But every once in a while (more often than not it seems) I need to own the book.

Who else loves fashion history? 

I love learning about the history of fashion. The start of a fabric or the reason for the cut of trousers or a certain pattern. On CBS Saturday they interviewed Richard Thompson Ford and he utterly drew me into his book.

Guess who just bought 3 new amazing fashion history books! 

Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair 
The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel 

**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases**

**If you start a membership with my LIbro.fm referral link, I'll earn a free audiobook!**

Self Care Monday-Mondays

 Let's face it, Mondays are hard. Garfield (and Jim Davis!) had it right. 

I've been working on getting myself going on Monday mornings, trying to just push through. I think that might be the wrong term. Push through. But I'm more tired on Mondays than I am almost every other morning no matter how much sleep I get.

So instead of going through the morning tired and cranky, which happens, I've been trying to take 3 or 5 minutes and meditating with gratitude.

Monday again=another beautiful day!

Monday mornings=the start of a productive week!

It's a learning process, not going to lie! But it's all about changing my mindset.

How do you get through your Mondays?

Friday Food-Buffalo Chicken Dip

 There is nothing about this dip I do not like. A couple weeks ago when I boiled the chicken for my pupper's food, I froze some for me. This last week I took it out, thawed it, and made buffalo chicken dip. 

Because Yum.

The recipe is simple.

• Boiled and shredded Chicken (no skin or bones)
  
• 1 package Cream Cheese (8 oz)
  
• 2/3 cup Buffalo Sauce
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing
• If you want to add: diced celery and/or onions
  
• Mix well
• I don't cook everything together first because that just dirties another pan. I mix it together in a mixing bowl then spread it into the baking dish
• Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top (who am I kidding? There is no sprinkling of the cheese!)
• Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until well cooked around the edges. 

Let cool for at least 10 minutes. How do I know that? Yeah, ask me lol

Wine and wine corks research

 A former boss of mine once gave me a page a day calendar on wine. I don't remember anything else about it except but the bit I scribbled down regarding wine corks. Apparently wine bottles were either left uncorked when brought to the table--that whole bit about filling the bottles from the cask--or stopped with glass--much like a crystal decanter.

Cork, however, though an ancient method of many things including the soles of sandals, buoys, and yes, wine corks, was not used widely until the mid to late 1700s.

I wish I'd kept the day it was on, I think it had more information. Why did I write it on a piece of scrap paper rather than keep the calendar page? Your guess is as good as mine. 

I did search for this information, but since I don't even know the name of that page a day calendar, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. However, I did find this!

From A History of Wine Corks and Bottles:

But, it was illegal to sell wine by the bottle in Britain until the 1860's.

I have so many questions! Alas, that article didn't go into details about this very pertinent tidbit! So all those movies and books are wrong? I'm going to have to do more research into this.

Self Care Monday-If then

Something I realized about myself recently was I'm a big If X happens THEN Y...

I'm not sure where this came from or why I started thinking this way. Or even when or how I noticed it. But once I did notice it, it really annoyed me. It's like being given the choice of either or. Those memes that go around, "You can only pick one, would you pick the beach or the mountains?"

Why do I have to choose? Why can't I enjoy both? I do enjoy both. Why do I have to choose?

Why do I constantly think Oh, if X happens then I can finally do Y. I mean sure in terms of a nice jackpot lottery win, I can finally travel the world in a 🛥 private yacht🛥 . Actually, no, I get horribly seasick. But traveling the world sounds amazing!

Believing that I can only do Y if and only if X happens is so limiting and I don't want to limit myself. But can I use it to motivate myself? 

This article from Psychology Today made a good point. Sure, it's about exercise, (*bold is me*) but:

Amazingly, you are two to three times more likely to succeed if you use an if-then plan than if you don't. In one study, 91 percent of people who used an if-then plan stuck to an exercise program, versus 39 percent of non-planners. Peter Gollwitzer, the NYU psychologist who first articulated the power of if-then planning, recently reviewed results from 94 studies that used the technique and found significantly higher success rates for just about every goal you can think of, from using public transportation more frequently to avoiding stereotypical and prejudicial thoughts.

 

 So here's me, trying to think of a good way to implement the if X then Y to not limit myself but to expand myself. And if I want to do Y before X happens, then why shouldn't I?

Cairo Research

A few more books I used in writing Husband of Convenience. These are mostly for reference, I needed details of what things looked like 200+ years ago.

Cairo Anthology: Two Hundred Years of Travel Writing by Deborah Manley

The Sahara: A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination) by Eamonn Gearon

Here's a site on History of Cairo I found helpful. And, of course, Wikipedia's Eyalet of Egypt page, which was a kinda separate country attached to the Ottoman Empire. So not exactly a part of the empire, Egypt operated under its own rules and laws and leaders, but it paid tribute. This lasted from 1517 to 1867. An Eyalet means state in English. 

Self Care Monday--Something's Gotta Give

 Some days, despite your best efforts, something gives. try as we might, juggling all those balls in the air is hard work and one (more than one) fall. It's hard and frustrating and wow, does it make you angry. Because aren't we all supposed to be perfect?

Don't get me started on the perfectionism crap. Nothing and no one is ever perfect. It's why we shout it out when something goes so well we're amazed. 

But sometimes we need to give up A Thing we enjoy because it's not quite right for us. It's not that there's no more joy in it, but that joy is tempered.

So, yeah, some times giving up an activity we love for our own peace of mind is necessary. It never, ever makes you less. 

And I think that's something we all need to remember. Giving up A Thing does not make you any less than when you gave all your time to That Thing. It just means you changed. There's no shame in returning to That Thing later. But only if it's what you want.

I think that's another thing we don't take into account nearly enough. What I Want. So the question is, what DO you want? 

Friday Food-chicken soup for dogs

No, that's not an analogy for the next entry in that uber popular series. This is what I make for my pup. Last year she had terrible bladder stones. It was traumatic for her (and me!) and since neither of us want to go through that again, I do feed her specialized anti bladder crystal food. But she's getting up there in years, so I try to feed her other good-for-her foods, too. 

So yes, I do make her chicken soup! I add in ginger (an excellent anti-inflammatory) and simple boiled chicken. Then no-salt organic chicken broth. Depending on if I have them in, I add in baby carrots and peppers. Not too many. 

I then freeze the results! The pot makes about 5 or 6 containers worth of food. I fill the used yogurt containers about 1/2 to 3/4 way. I feed her a little each morning with her food and one container lasts about 6 or 7 days.

Left photo is chicken soup, right photo is the finished product!

Egyptian ful medames

 I love the spices of Middle Eastern food. the way they mix in the air as you breathe them in and on the tongue as you take that first coveted bite. While I've never had ful medames, and am unsure of my cooking skills when it comes to this, I really want to try it! Alas, I don't live near any restaurant who makes it. One day.

Ful= beans and medames=buried, according to one recipe site I looked up. I love the idea of fava beans mixed with cumin, garlic, onions, lemon juice, and peppers. And, of course, pita bread! Because I love all sorts of breads.

It's pretty cool how they used to cook the beans. This is from the Clifford A Wright website.

There is an interesting story about how fūl hammām came to be known as "bath beans." Professor Janet Abu-Lughod, whose authoritative book on Cairo published by Princeton University Press is now a classic, told me the story of fūl. In the Middle Ages, the making of fūl was monopolized by the people living around the Princess Baths, a public bath in a tiny compound near today's sabil (public drinking fountain) of Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, a block north of the two elegant minarets of the Mosque of Sultan Mu'ayyad Shaykh above the eleventh-century Bab Zuwaylah gate. During the day bath-attendants stoked the fires heating the qidras, huge pots of bath water. Wood was scarce, so garbage was used as fuel and eventually a dump grew around the baths. When the baths closed, the red embers of the fires continued to burn. To take advantage of these precious fires, huge qidras were filled with fava beans and these cauldrons were kept simmering all night, and eventually all day too, to provide breakfast for Cairo's population. Cookshops throughout Cairo would send their minions to the Princess Baths to buy their wholesale fūl.

I used ful medames in Husband of Convenience to both showcase Cairo and to introduce Paul, the English hero, to Egyptian foods. I don't have any photos of the meal, because I've yet to work up the courage to try it, but it looks amazing!

Self Care Monday-Know Your Worth!

 Recently, I was reminded about listening to others opinions. I don't mean constructive criticism or anything of the like. I mean the nasty put downs that people like to heap on you.

It can be either when when you made a mistake (but took responsibility) or did good. The classic "Oh, that's nice but..." 

No one needs that! Say the compliment and leave everything else be.

The choice is yours. Don't let anyone else determine your self-worth. 

Be grateful for all you have, not angry over what you don't have. People will be people. Only you can change your path.

Peggy Carter's words--I know my value--are worth remembering and embracing.

Friday Food-Last Summer Veggies

Eggplant, tomato, and cheese anyone?

This is mozzarella but there are a thousand cheeses you can use, including vegan cheese for my lactose intolerant friends. I've not tried it with anything other than mozzarella but now that I'm typing this I'm wondering why I have not. 

Anyway, onto the food! This is super easy. 

I bought fresh eggplant and the last of the season's tomatoes at the fruit stand the end of last week. I'm lucky enough to live in a well stocked fresh fruit and vegetable area but I know not everyone can drive on down to the local stand.

Wash and cut the eggplant and tomatoes into medium slices. I say medium, but it's all relative to what you want. And my slices grow thicker by the end of my cutting...

Place the eggplant on a baking tray. I use parchment paper for it to cut down on the baking tray cleaning. (I use If You Care unbleached, chlorine free parchment paper that is FSC®-certified FSC is Forest Stewardship Council.)

350℉ for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 6-10 minutes depending on how thick the slices are.

Top with tomato and cheese until cheese melts

Doesn't it look delicious?