Bought a box – bag – whatever, package of bathroom tissue from Costco — the marketing! Omy.  These rolls were giant rolls = like getting two regular rolls in one.  [...]]]> So, I’m drinking my tea… browsing the news (okay, yes, and checking in on Facebook), and I noticed an article about new food packaging.  Arrggghh!  If there’s a subject that’s really gotten me going lately, it is this!!  Less food in “better” packaging for more money!  Arrggghh!

Bought a box – bag – whatever, package of bathroom tissue from Costco — the marketing! Omy.  These rolls were giant rolls = like getting two regular rolls in one.  A week or so later, I’m standing there looking at the two packages.  One package contained x number of rolls, x square-inches of tissue.  This NEW!! giant roll (ahem, like getting two regular rolls in one) package had fewer square inches – for more money.   But it FELT like more — that’s what the package said.  I even took the time to jot down on my palm-pilot (well, okay, a post-it-note) the product content information.  It wasn’t enough that I could see the lesser/difference – I wanted to have my written proof.

I was going to call the company – armed with information and give them my opinion.  But I didn’t… I lost my little post it note.  And then later, I lost my nerve/incentive to call.

Then, on a couple of different occasions I was baking and noticed the saltine crackers were smaller; I was making a graham-cracker crust and I thought:  whatintheworld?  These squares are smaller, too! I opened another box – this one, newer.  Again, whatintheworld?  Already broken squares in handy take along – stay fresh – stack-packs?!?!  I do not want to take these along anywhere!  This is not handy to me!  This is not convenient to me and these are not economical stay-fresh stack packs to me!  I’m thinking: They’re not going to be around long enough to need to be kept fresh. ;o)

So, today I decided I would call the company.   On the line was someone I’m sure not born in Snohomish (but I digress).  And so, I proceeded to tell her what I thought of the handy packaging and the convenient stack packs and the economical family size – they’re neither convenient nor family size.  I told her that a recipe calling for a package of graham crackers is not going to produce same volume and so from now on, in addition to requiring the purcha$e of more boxe$, I will have to continually weigh the crackers – as I’m sure they’ll continue to repackage and reduce the volume.

I told her that consumers are not ignorant that all this handy and convenient packaging is a sly attempt to deceive consumers.  I went on to tell her this great deception is, in reality, a great insult — actually mocking the intelligence of their customers — that they’re not thinking of the customer’s convenience at all, that their packaging is not green, it’s greed!

When she thanked me for calling today, I told her I wasn’t confident my call would matter much, but that I wasn’t just calling to rant, but that I wanted them to know that I’d rather pay more (exhibit A = already do) for an honest weight and measure.  She assured me my call was important (I felt like I was on hold with GroupHealth listening to a recording).   She said they were very interested in hearing customer’s views and then reminded me that there would be some settling in the packaging.  I agreed but reminded her that I was talking about weight of the box of graham crackers, ritz crackers — not how a box of crackers or cereal looks when opened.  I told her I got that one.

I think my boys have tried that one: Ma, there’s a lot missing?!?!?!  O, it must’ve been due to settling during shipping.  O yes, boys, that must be it – silly me.

We want to believe that food companies have the consumers’ best interest at heart.  But, especially in this day and age, I’m tending to think that there’s a lot of duping going on.  It seems advertisers are working like never before to spin information to make things seem much more desirable than ever before.

So the next time you go to the store to buy a box of graham-crackers (or just about any other product)  if you haven’t noticed already, the weight/volume is less.  Again.  And, yes, the price has jumped up — on many things, quite a bit!  Consumers really are noticing these seemingly little changes. All New Packaging! Less Food! Don’t be duped by the dupers… they’re telling you they’re saving you money — and you just might buy it.  They’re keeping the height of the box the same or they’re introducing to you a new shape, a new, convenient, stay-fresh package, etc., etc.  But take another look, the box is thinner.  Those handy stack packs, those stay-fresh-stack-packs – inside are shorter.   That juice may have a new handy grab and pour design.  This only equals less volume.   This isn’t new… it’s been going on for some time… as this article shows.  In the end, they think you won’t notice anything but price.

But I know you, you’re smarter than that.

Here are a few numbers for you:

Nabisco: 1.800.NABISCO
Kellogg’s: 1.269.961/2000
Kraft: 1.847.646.200

Perfect [...]]]> Men Pleasers
I’ve often wondered how, or by what means, the church will be carried away — what will it look like when the elect are deceived (Mark 13.22) and who’ll deceive and be deceived (2Timothy 3.13).  When “An influential evangelical leader is coming under fire for saying in a NPR interview he believes in homosexual civil unions and that Christians who oppose same-sex marriage and abortion may still find reasons to support Obama.” the  church ought to take notice!

Perfect Turkey Every Time. No Kidding.
Was your Ts’giving turkey heavy-duty dry?  Well, if you’ll follow Mrs. King’s advice, you’ll never have to serve dry-as-shoe-leather turkey again. She explains it quite well — you’ll have to bookmark this one when you want to prepare your next turkey.

Browsing the News
Did you think OJ would ever be brought to justice?  Me neither.  The judge called him “arrogant and ignorant.”  I always wondered how this would play out.

Kaz humidifier & Vicks
I’ve been sick this week… coughing, coughing, coughing.  O, I’ve been taking it easy — I have this tremendous fear of a bout of pneumonia — so I take it easy when I have chest congestion like this.  So I have a Kaz cold-air humidifier going and for the last couple of nights my husband has been rubbing my feet with Vicks.  We’ve been told that doing so quiets coughs – and though I know it sounds like a hoax, I have slept better the last couple of nights and my feet feel terrific when I wake up!! ;o)  So, after my bath, he rubbed the Vicks on the bottom of my feet and then covered them with cotton socks.  Nice. Try it… if you’ve been coughing, maybe the Vicks will help you, too!

(I must say, though, with the humidifier going in our room, I was dreaming that I was on an jetliner and the steward was telling the passengers that the cabin would soon be pressurized and… yeah… different jetliner dreams all night. )

Well, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do today… think on *good things* instead of dwelling in the valley of dimness & despair.

It’s cold outside today.  Samuel swept the chimney, the boys filled [...]]]> I’ve been thinking that we need to think on other things… you know… Philippians 4.8:  “…whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are of good report, whatsoever things are tasty; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Well, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do today… think on *good things* instead of dwelling in the valley of dimness & despair.

It’s cold outside today.  Samuel swept the chimney, the boys filled the porch with stacks of wood and there’s a fire in the woodstove.  Wood is the source of heat for this home and a fire in the stove sort of means, for our family, that the winter season has officially begun. I know it’s truly not winter yet, but this is what we call winter — the cold, wet days where swimmingpools are sort of a distant summer memory — as if there are only two seasons: summer and winter.

Hmmm, there was a point to all that — O, yes… so I’ve been thinking on lovely things — thinking on what my family might enjoy, what would say: “I ♥ you” to them — something they’d really go for right about now.  Yes… aebleskivers.  So, tomorrow morning — though it’s no one’s birthday, we’re having aebleskivers for breakfast.  Below I have posted a youtube video of Aebleskiver preparation in Solvang.

When I was a little girl, one of my very most favourite treats was to go next door and watch my friend’s mama make aebleskivers.  I loved watching her as she quickly worked with a knitting needle to flip the aebleskivers over and over in the special pan.  I loved that they had that tradition and more, that they shared it with us.  Another very favourite memory was going to visit the restaruant where we ordered Aebleskivers in Solvang.  I thought the raspberry jam was so delicious — and the presentation so lovely!!  See?  thinking on things that are lovely?? 

Well, that was a long time ago, my friend’s mama has gone to be with the Lord and the making of memories there has long passed.  However… we’ve started writing these memories into our own family’s story and, for our children, there’s nothing quite like a breakfast of aebleskivers. I love to prepare and serve them… there’s just something about making them that makes me smile.  I love that I learned to flip the aebleskivers with a knitting needle and that one of the blessings we discovered when we moved to this old farmhouse was the long row of raspberry canes (that has since become three rows) and that I learned make raspberry freezer jam that tastes just about like the sweetest summer day ever.

I don’t use a “mix” for Aebleskivers.  Here’s my recipe (pasting in from our website)

pamela’s aebleskivers

2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2+ cups buttermilk
3 eggs (separated)
3 Tablespoons melted butter

oil or butter/oil mixture for coating the aebleskiver pan.

Powdered Sugar
Raspberry Jam and/or Real Maple Syrup

Mix the flour, soda, baking powder, salt together with a fork. Set aside.  Blend egg yolk and buttermilk.  In a mixing bowl, whip egg whites still stiff.  Gently blend the dry and milk mixture and melted butter and then fold in the whipped egg whites.

Heat the aebleskiver (able-skeever) pan (a cast iron pan that has molded, rounded “cups” that hold the batter and help form the aebleskiver “pancake” balls).   When the pan is hot, you will “paint” each aebleskiver cup with oil.  (I use a ½ & ½ mixture of oil/butter)  When the pan is hot, fill each cup with batter and immediately start “turning” the aebleskivers with a knitting needle.  Quickly turning quarter turns at a time until all sides are cooked and the center is cooked through.  This is tricky the first couple of “pan-fulls” and then you’ll get the hang of it.  Then pluck the aebleskiver balls out of  the pan with the knitting needle.  Set on a plate and dust with powdered sugar and then serve with raspberry jam or maple syrup.  Repeat process each time of coating the pan-cups with oil and making the aebleskivers.  A typical serving size is 3 aebleskivers (the equivalent of 3 or so pancakes).  I triple this recipe for our family of 11 and make even more when the older sons are home!

It’s a funny thing to have to have a knitting needle to cook in the kitchen… but it’s necessary for the easy turning of the aebleskivers.  Anything else is too cumbersome.  I use a # 6 knitting needle.

Here are a few dinner recipes and you might also want to print up a couple of these… “Dozens of Dinners” dinner ideas and a page of “Bunches of Lunches” lunch ideas I wrote up for a cookbook a long time [...]]]> Every day… every day… day after day, there’s the dilemma:  what’s for dinner? Or… for many, the daily questions are more like: What’s for breakfast? When’s coffee? What’s for lunch? What’s for snack? What’s for dinner? Where’s the chocolate for me?

Here are a few dinner recipes and you might also want to print up a couple of these… “Dozens of Dinners” dinner ideas and a page of “Bunches of Lunches” lunch ideas I wrote up for a cookbook a long time ago.

As an aid for the kitchen sink ponderings as to what to have for dinner, I posted these pages on our website several years ago so that women could print them out and tape them to the inside of the kitchen cabinet near the sink.   For most all my homemaking years I have had lists, recipes, notes and photographs on the inside of the doors of my kitchen cabinets so that I will have ‘ready reminders’ of what to fix (lists of meals), how to fix (recipes & notes), and why to fix them (photographs of people I love) — for lunches and dinners and other meals.

Bon appetit!

Hey… and remember those chickens we butchered a few weeks ago?  Well… the cool thing we used for “plucking” or defeathering them was a Whizbang chicken plucker – just like the one shown here at The Deliberate Agrarian!  The first plunging of the chicken into the boiling water and into the Whizbang plucker was stomach-churning. Really.  After the first one, the rest were easier (sort of).  And I don’t know when  if I could ever do the neck slicing deal – you know.  I would say that the best way to do the chicken butchering job is to share it (and the equipment) with friends.  Well… that’s probably the only way I would could do it.

I particularly like that site bcz if there’s any question [...]]]> I’m in the midst of canning, canning, canning… and I needed some pickle info… and so looked around and found my answer. Wow!  What a great site I discovered.  It’s full of many, many helps, illustrations, photos, recipes, tips and more.  Here it is: pickyourown.org !  I think you’ll be so pleased  – and if you’ve been looking for food preserving “how-to’s” and recipes, then this is the site for you!

I particularly like that site bcz if there’s any question as to the type or appearance of the fruit or vegetable, there are *many* photos and illustrations!  Go ahead… take a look — you’ll be pleased!

Yummy Gingersnaps

Blend in the Kitchenaid or the Bosch mixer: 1 Cup Oil 1/2 Cup Butter 1 Cup Molasses (Can be half blackstrap and half sorghum) 2 Cups Brown Sugar 2 Eggs

Blend and then mix into the above ingredients

4-1/2 Cups flour 3 tsps. Baking soda 1/2 tsp. Salt 4 tsps. ground Ginger 1/2 tsp.  ground Cloves 1/2 tsp.  ground Black Pepper 2 [...]]]> Here’s that recipe for the best gingersnaps  — well, to gingersnap lovers they are!  Try ‘em today… and with Nutella tomorrow or cheese and gingersnaps – yum!

Yummy Gingersnaps

Blend in the Kitchenaid or the Bosch mixer:
1 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Molasses (Can be half blackstrap and half sorghum)
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Eggs

Blend and then mix into the above ingredients

4-1/2 Cups flour
3 tsps. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 tsps. ground Ginger
1/2 tsp.  ground Cloves
1/2 tsp.  ground Black Pepper
2 tsps.  ground Cinnamon

(Additional: Raw sugar for rolling cookies in before baking )

When blended well, roll into walnut size balls and then roll in raw sugar or coarse brown or white sugar and set on cookie sheet – leaving space between each cookie as these spread as they bake. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 375* We use the raw sugar because it’s thicker and looks pretty as cookies are baked. Once baked, remove from cookie sheet and place on racks to cool.   Makes about 6 dozen addicting cookies