I LOVE Chocolate!

The average consumption of these
scrumptious little chips
is 11 pounds annually! 

                                                                                                       Most people love chocolate !!   

Chocolate is a weighty matter!!!

 It has been reported that Americans consume it in quantities that average out to eleven pounds per person per year. Averages are scary because they mean that for each person that eats less chocolate than that---there has to be another who eats more.


In terms that I visualize, the average amounts to eating 14 large bags plus one small bag of chocolate chips annually. That is a lot of chocolate!


I have been known to sneak a handful of those tasty morsels on more than one occasion. And I have too often tried to drown my sorrows or disguise unsatisfied wants with gooey hot fudge. I've also been known to have a hot fudge sundae for dinner when I wasn't trying to drown or disguise anything but my craving.


I am a true believer in servin’ lovin’ from the oven and it, more often than not, contains chocolate in one form or another. But, and I am pretty sure I know this for a fact, I have never consumed that much chocolate, in all of its delectable forms, in 365 days.


Maybe that is because I like my chocolate spread out---buried in rich buttery cookie dough, cascading down mounds of vanilla ice cream, enhancing a pie, or surrounding marshmallowy and peanutty candy fillings. If you like chocolate in solid portions, in the form of 1.75 oz. candy bars you, too, can be average in just over 100 days.


Following are a few of our favorite ways of spreading it out.


Peanut Clusters
12 oz semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
8 squares vanilla almond bark
2-3 cups salted Spanish peanuts
Melt the chocolate pieces and vanilla squares together over low heat or carefully in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat Add peanuts. Drop by clusters on waxed paper or aluminum foil covered surface. Let set until firm.


Marshmallow-Peanut Clusters
Use above recipe but allow mixture to cool slightly. Stir in mini-marshmallows and drop by clusters on prepared surface.


Marshmallow Cups
Growing up in California, one of my favorite candy bars was a “Cup-O-Gold” — gooey marshmallow encased in chocolate! Similar ones are called "Mallo-Cups," an East Coast version. Both are very hard to find and we think these are better than the originals. Please try and come up with a better name for these, and let me know. I promise, they deserve it.

There are no specific ingredient quantities. Make up the amount you need for the amount you want to make.  You have your choice of size also—mini or regular.
          Chocolate-flavored almond bark
          Handful of chocolate chips, if desired
          Finely shredded coconut
          Jar of marshmallow cream
         Mini or regular size cupcake papers


Lightly toast the coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly because it doesn’t take long. Set aside.


Place paper cups in mini or regular cupcake pans.


Melt chocolate in microwave or over low heat, watching carefully and stirring often.
Stir toasted coconut into melted chocolate.


Place a small amount of the chocolate-coconut mixture into each paper cup. Let the chocolate set a couple of minutes so it very slightly sets up. With a small spoon, “drag” the chocolate up the sides of the paper about 2/3rd of the way up, forming a bowl. After they have set up, you may repeat or touch up if there are areas you want a little thicker.


Place a dollop of marshmallow cream, right from the jar, into each “bowl.”


Go back and spoon additional chocolate-coconut mixture over the top of the marshmallow to cover it.  Gently tap the pan so the chocolate will fill in any gaps.


If you like these, I’ll add some of our other chocolate favorites another time—including more “copy-cats.”




‘til we eat again,
    Simply, Gail

A portion of this post was originally printed in Desert Saints Magazine

Hi! I'm Simply Gail: the Creative Cheapskate and. . .

the new kid on the blog


First, an admission. I am using the word kid very loosely. For now, we’ll just say that I learned to type, and then did so for many years, on a typewriter that did not plug in, nor rely on batteries or any other power source. Your fingers not only did the walking, they did it all!

It was called a manual typewriter and this was it’s font.


This is my first post on my first* blog. 


If you haven't read "About Me" I'd like you to do so before you continue. Then what I say next won’t be like you coming in, and trying to catch up, 10 minutes after the movie started.


Second, a disclaimer, and an apology. Misters Strunk (Jr.)and White first published The Elements of Style when I was a junior in high school. I never read the book and if I had, by this age I have forgotten more than I ever knew.


I went through the journalism ranks, clear to the top, in high school and made it to associate editor in junior college before I got married and dropped out.


I apologize in advance to the grammatically obsessed who may read this. If I say so myself I don’t too badly even though I never mastered, nor even understood the concept of, sentence diagramming. And I love ----‘s and ....’s and not only overuse them but use them whenever I feel like it, without a qualm of correctness. It drives Dave, my English-major husband, a wee bit crazy.


Our home and the world were and still are, my classroom. My "assignments" on life were published in two weekly newspapers in the Mid-West for three years and monthly in a Las Vegas family magazine(is that an oxymoron or what?) for about six years.


My how-to labs were conducted in community education classes in schools,a hospital,libraries and women’s church groups.


I am a slow learner so my education still continues. I hope I can share what I have learned and hope you will share with me.


I hope you'll sign on and check in. I am...

Simply, Gail


*actually this was the first post on my earlier blog (2coatsofpaint.blogspot.com). I changed the title and URL  8/18/2011 to try to more obviously reflect who I am and what I am about. That also explains why there are so many posts for 8/18---I was transferring them over. I am still Simply, Gail. If you have any questions or comments please contact me at davengail@infowest.com.

What if . . . you lost all of your electronic contact information?

It could happen.

My grandmother survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. She took 69 photographs, two I've included here, with her Brownie box camera of the areas around her home and neighborhood.

Along with the pictures, I have a letter written to my grandmother from a boyfriend across town, expressing his concern for her. It took two weeks for the letter to reach her.

Times were simpler then. . .

They didn’t have many ways to contact one another, and when that information was needed, they usually had it written in one little note book which they usually carried with them. I have one of those--- my great grandfather's--- in my possession.

Today we also carry our contact information around with us, and usually in a compact form.

But what if . . . the power grids, or whatever the things that keep our electronic world afloat are called, suddenly went down. There are probably any number of reasons that could happen. And then the batteries that power our electronic brains?

This is a very scary what if ...... and this is coming from someone who relies very little on electronics for anything.  Someone who still prefers a hard copy address book. How much more scary for those who are electronically dependent—or addicted?

We used to memorize the phone numbers of family and friends. Now, for the most part, we know them by the order in which we punch them in, or by scrolling down a list---and then punching "go get 'em." How many are safely tucked away in our physical brains?

Insurance is something we all have and all hope we never need.

For our “insurance” I made wallet-size lists of all of our family members with all of their contact numbers and addresses---home, work, college, etc. We even listed our doctor and our medicines, including strengths and dosages.

Then, for our emergency get-up and go bags, I made additional sets, laminated them, and attached them to the go-bags so they would not get misplaced. But that’s another story for next time.

Until then, please give thought to, and take steps toward, making preparations for an emergency so you will be able to sleep when the wind blows.

Making Jam with Sweet Juicy Ripe Peaches

Our kitchen smells wonderful.  Over the last two days, I have bottled more than 40 pints of jam. The common ingredient in every variation is sweet! juicy! ripe! peaches!

We think our  favorite jam recipe is scrumptious --- and so does everyone who tries it. Among all of the pluses, it has only one drawback.  It is soft, almost runny, but that is a small inconvenience compared to its relative ease, cost savings, and positive deliciousness. And, this consistency makes it absolutely perfect for topping ice cream, angel cakes, pancakes, waffles and more. 

If you would like your jam firmer, see Thickener below.


While I usually use peaches as the base, this recipe can be adapted to most fruits, even drained, canned ones (which is great if you want to make jam in winter when fresh fruit isn't available---at least not cheaply!).

Pectin is the traditional thickener in jams and jellies --- and currently costs $2 or more per recipe. This recipe uses flavored gelatin at about 40 cents per recipe!

Last year a friend and I made it with pears and cherry gelatin; peaches, crushed pineapple and orange gelatin, and peaches with raspberry gelatin, in addition the original recipe below. The combinations are only limited by your imagination.


Peach Plus Jam
4 cups peeled and crushed peaches
5 cups sugar
10 ounce container frozen raspberries, undrained
One 4-serving size raspberry gelatin
2 T. lemon juice, fresh or bottled

In large pot, bring crushed peaches, undrained raspberries, and sugar to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add gelatin and lemon juice and continue to boil, stirring occasionally,  for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Makes about 8 cups.

Pour into sterilized canning jars (whatever size(s) you wish) to within 1/4" to 1/2" of the top. Wipe off top rims of jars and seal with lids and rings immediately. Place on heavy towel to until completely cool. Check seals by pushing on lids; they should not flex.

Thickener
The softness of the jam usually doesn't bother us---occasionally I would like it firmer. I have found a new, at least to me, product "clear jel" or "ultimate gel". It is a tasteless, easy-to-use gluten-free, modified food starch that can be stirred into hot or cold foods to thicken them.  When I want "thick" jam I just slowly and thoroughly stir a little of this gel into the jam, adjusting the amount according to the firmness I want.   It is also great for thickening pie fillings, gravies, salad dressings, glazes and more. It is also great for making freezer jam. Information is available on the Internet.

Jam-Making Hints: Amounts to Use, Peeling Ease, Sealing Security
1. The peaches I used today are about the size of medium apples. It takes about 7 or 8 peaches, of this size, to equal 4 cups crushed peaches.  I use a blender, food chopper or potato masher to roughly crush them (we like some small pieces of fruit in the jam).

2. To make peeling the peaches easier, I put them in pot of boiling water, remove after about one minute, and put in large bowl of cold water. By doing this, the skins using slip off, or at least peel very easily.

3. As a little extra lid-sealing insurance, I put the hot jars upside down on the heavy  towel to cool. I am not sure if it really helps. . .but it doesn't hurt either!

'til we eat again
 Simply, Gail

 

Gardening in a Bag---or Bags!

It is time to plant, in our area,  spinach, lettuce  and 
other crops for fall harvesting. 

You know those bags they sell at  markets to reuse, rather than paper or plastic?  They are usually $1.00 each but when they went on sale for 3/$1.00, we bought nine and our thinking caps got busy thinking.

They are strong and great for toting lots of things besides groceries---and they are porous! They also lasted a full season---growing a variety of lettuce, spinach, and onions, right outside our back door!

Getting Started: Take a paper punch and punch a few holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage. The bag is a lot taller than you need for planting so just fold it down until it is as deep as you want. Place a couple of inches of small gravel or cinder in the bottom, fill it with potting soil and plant. We have done it with both seeds and starter plants.

We have also planted in dishpans and other semi-shallow containers.  Look "differently" at containers you already have or check out the thrift stores or garage sales.  You will be amazed at what you can find.
Want it more simple? Pick a spot and lay a full bag of potting soil down flat. Cut X's in the top of the bag where you want your plants, fold back the corners of the X's and plant young starts. Poke a few holes near the bottom for drainage.

If the growing season for your area allows it, you can  plant your salad greens in early spring and then again in early fall. When you want to make a salad, just snip off some of the  leaves and enjoy. The plants will keep on growing.

Bring Bright Bits of Recognition with the Good News Bear

A simple way to bring BIG smiles as you outwardly recognize little (or not so little) accomplishments or events.  


The Good News Bear can cheerfully relay your bright bits of recognition even if you are unable to be there to do it yourself.  While he's not nearly as good as a hug, he will definitely brighten the recipient's moment.

What Are Our Most Prized Possessions?

Do we even realize that what we value most, is too often NOT where we give our most time and attention? 

No Copyrights have been violated
This, as well as other posts that look like they have been copied from a book, have been!
Some of my posts do contain scanned pages from my self-published "Simply. . ." series.

This world moves so fast and there are so many things that take our time. Don't let yourself get caught up in the "thick of thin things." Please do everything you can to make sure your priorities are in their proper order. Lives depend on it!!!