March 2005
Dear Friends,
It has been an exciting and busy few weeks for us as our new book,
Classic Prayers for Children, has arrived! When my mother-in-law saw the book, she told me, “Honey, this is an elegant book!” I do believe it is not only lovely, but will inspire and bless your family as it has mine. You know, it occurred to me that these days we have all kinds of scrapbooks, photo albums, baby books, memory books, etc. to record children’s achievements and special moments growing up. But where do we record their spiritual milestones and progress? What about those precious little prayers they prayed from the heart when they were little? We think we’ll never forget those, but as time passes, we do. Unless we write them down.
Classic Prayers for Children has a journal section to record your little one’s first prayers, as well as milestones on their spiritual journey. As they get older, they can begin to write in the journal themselves and thus begin a lifelong habit of journaling what the Lord is teaching them. Imagine them in their teen or young adult years being able to go back and read their spiritual path thus far in their life. What an encouragement!
Last month, I shared some
kitchen organization tips and I heard from Lisa H. in Oregon with some more great tips! Lisa buys large plastic buckets with lids from the bakery at her grocery store for just $1 each. She labels the buckets and uses them to store sugar, oats, cornmeal, flours, beans, etc. which she purchases in bulk. Raisins, wheat bran, and peanuts go into quart canning jars. She has trained her boys to face the canned goods to the front when they help put away groceries as that really helps reduce the time spent searching for things. Lisa, you are a wise mother! Yes, you can train children – even young children – to do things a certain way. Young children like to please their parents and usually are eager to do things the “right” way! Take time to train them; it is worth it now as it helps you, but you also are training them well for the future.
Lisa bought small plastic containers from Wal-Mart and set them in a low drawer for keeping toddler cup lids. Little hands can easily find them and no one digs in a messy drawer hunting for that elusive cup lid while a little one cries for their drink. She uses large canning jars to store spatulas, wooden spoons and such on the countertop, and another to hold large knives (points down!). Smaller jars hold other tools – all in easy reach. Another benefit: there’s only one drawer for large things that won’t fit into one of her caddies and, as she said, that drawer is so sparse that it stays neat. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing these great tips!
With Easter coming up, many of us will be
hard-cooking eggs. I hope you won’t “hard boil” them because eggs (and all protein) become tough and rubbery when you boil them. Here’s a simple way to make perfect hard-cooked eggs every time: Place a single layer of eggs in a saucepan. Fill with water to cover the eggs. Bring the water just to the boiling point. I use medium heat so the water heats more slowly. Just before the water boils, remove the pan from the heat & cover. Leave the eggs covered for 15 minutes, then drain the water. Add cold water to the pan and add some ice cubes to help chill the eggs quickly. Leave them in the cold water 5 – 10 minutes. Drain the water and store the cooked eggs inside the refrigerator (not in the frig door where temperatures vary).
Eggshells are porous and eggs can pick up odors in the frig. Store the cooked eggs in a spare egg carton, or in a zipper plastic bag.
I’m often asked, “
why is it so hard to peel some hard-cooked eggs?” There is a membrane between the egg white and the shell and when the egg is very fresh, that membrane is quite strong, making the egg difficult to peel. Try to use eggs that are 7 – 10 days old for hard-cooked eggs; the shell is much easier to remove. Also, tap the cooked egg all over, and roll it gently on the countertop to loosen the shell from the membrane. Then peel it under cold running water.
Another common question I hear is “
why is there a grayish ring around the yolk of some hard-cooked eggs?” According to the American Egg Board, the sulfur and iron compounds in the egg react at the surface of the yolk. It may occur when eggs are overcooked or when there is a high amount of iron in the cooking water. The eggs are still wholesome and nutritious and their flavor is unaffected. This grayish ring can best be avoided by using proper cooking time and temperature and by rapidly cooling the cooked eggs.”
Please practice good food safety especially with eggs!
All eggs have the potential of containing the salmonella bacteria. That includes free range, “organic” eggs, etc. Salmonella, and other bacteria that can cause food poisoning, are found in the digestive tract of poultry as well as most animals and humans. Don’t take chances! Only eat cooked eggs. If you are making a recipe where the raw eggs are not thoroughly cooked (Royal Icing, for example), use a liquid egg product (these are pasteurized) or dried egg whites.
Easter egg hunts – According to the
American Egg Board, don’t color or hide cracked eggs. Don’t eat cracked eggs or eggs that have been out of refrigeration for more than 2 hours. If you plan to use hard-cooked eggs for decoration and they will be out of refrigeration more than 2 hours, cook extra eggs for eating and discard those that have been used for décor. A personal observation… after more than 30 years of doing egg hunts, I’ve found very few children who really enjoy eating the hard-cooked eggs. Sure, finding them is lots of fun! Years ago I switched to the plastic eggs and, since there was already an abundance of Easter candy elsewhere, I put shiny coins or little toys in the plastic eggs rather than candy. The children were thrilled, and no one got sick from eating an egg that had been sitting out in the sun too long!
I hope this egg information is helpful. You’ll find lots of fascinating information about eggs and recipes at the
American Egg Board’s website,
www.aeb.org, and in the egg chapter in the Future Christian Homemakers’ Handbook. On the aeb site, click on “Food Professionals & Teachers” then select, “Journey from Hen to Home” for an egg curriculum for grades 4-6. The “Kids & Family” section has all types of great information including a wonderful section on decorating eggs, Easter, Passover and Egg Salad Week!
Until next time ~
Yours in Him,
Copyright, 2006, Laurie Latour.
www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com You may make one printed copy for your own personal, private use. FCH leaders may make one printed copy for each person in their group. Copyright line above must be included in all copies. Permission for any other use must be requested in writing.
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