I grew up in a small town where there wasn’t a lot for kids to do but just be kids and play in the great outdoors. That was plenty enough though, believe me. My sisters and I made dirt houses lined with pebbles, floors swept down to the hard dirt, rocks and logs for furniture, and we served each other our fancy mud pie concoctions. We played secret maze games between the sheets hanging on the line until we got hollered at to get away with our unclean hands. We climbed Tank Hill just for something to do, and then tried to RUN down it without stumbling. Sometimes we took a picnic lunch up there and ate it overlooking the town where we could watch all the goings on. One time I climbed the tank – which was a mistake. I guess I’m a little afraid of heights I found out. My grandpa had to come and rescue me, and right after he called a welder to cut off the ladder so it couldn’t ever be climbed up by a kid again. Oh dear!
We had bikes and rode them all over a whole vast network of oilfield roads, to secret places – under bridges, the old electric plant, and to the pond to catch frogs and salamanders and horny toads by the dozens, but hopefully not see any snakes – ’causeewwww, girls don’t like snakes! We all played ball or watched the games, and we all sat on the fences at the ranch rodeos and watched the cowboys do their stuff. Sometimes they even let us run the hot-shot on the steers in the shoots, and open the shoot gates for the ropers.
Our little oilfield community had the first lighted baseball field, and the first lighted football field in the whole state. We had a bowling alley, and a swimming pool, and in the winter we had a frozen pond to ice skate on. They say we even had a golf course, but it wasn’t like any golf course you’ve ever seen – just dirt and rocks and prairie, with flags stuck in holes here and there. The clubhouse was just a corregated tin outbuilding, but it was something to do for those that are into that stuff!
If there was nothing else to do it was always fun to watch dad tinker with something in his shop, or tag along with him to his work. I got to tag along once to the Blue Creek Ranch out by Kaycee, and they let me ride an old nag of horse all day long while dad fixed whatever it was they needed him to fix. And my grandpa could be found in his massive garden most all summer. It was fun to pick and eat peas while he watered and weeded. I sometimes took my matchbook cars and made trails along the rows of corn. I accidentally sat in an ant pile once though, and that wasn’t so much fun! My grandma was always in the kitchen sowing or cooking. And when me and my sisters stayed at her house, it was fun to play secretary with pens and notebooks in the garage. Sometimes we’d nap with grandpa in the afternoons on the bed they kept out there, where the cool breezes blew through.
There was always a lady in town that taught piano lessons, and occasionally someone would travel through with gymnastics or dance classes, and our families all went camping and to the lake as often as we could. My folks had a motorcycle and a scooter and we went for rides as a family, sometimes be gone all day! And everyone in town met at the sand rocks to shoot off fireworks on the 4th of July – all of the families, and we shared our snacks and our fireworks with each other. Sounds magical, doesn’t it? It was!
We had a Girl Scouts troop and a Boy Scouts troop, and even a Boy Scouts camp on the Pine Ridge. What in the world else does a kid need? It was a wonderful life!
Girl Scouts was one of my fondest childhood memories. I remember getting to go to summer camp (Camp Sacajawea) on Casper Mountain one year. I got to ride on a bus up the mountain with a whole bunch of really nice bigger girls, singing old hippy songs all the way, and coolest of all, it was an over-nighter. We made ditty bags out of bandanas and tied them to a stick (I’ve still got one of the nicer ditty bags we were given – shown in the photo below). We filled them with snacks and water, and one of the days we used the ditty bag sticks as walking sticks and hiked to a really cool waterfall that flowed over a rock that we could walk behind (just like in the movie The Last of the Mohicans). That’s the way I remember it anyway! 🙂 I remember doing crafts and selling cookies. I remember one year being really ambitious to sell those cookies! I ❤ed Girl Scouts!
This is a throw back meal from when I was a Girl Scout at Camp Sacajawea. Very easy to make and I think it is delicious! Of course we made S’mores for dessert – I’m pretty sure that was another Girl Scouts invention too! 😉
This recipe feeds 4 to 6 people.
Peel and chop several cloves of garlic. I did a whole bulb’s worth.
Wash a small bag of yellow potatoes, and a small bag of carrots, peel the carrots and then slice both into bite-size pieces (figure on about 2 small potatoes and 1 whole large carrot per person)
Peel a yellow onion, cut in half, and slice it into quarter inch slices
Place all veggies in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste, and then drizzle generously with olive oil, toss to coat evenly, set aside
Mix 2 lbs of hamburger with 2 packages of dry onion soup mix, and a small minced jalapeno, a little salt and pepper, and mix well, then form into patties
Place a heaping ladle full of veggies into the center of a generous sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil
Lay a hamburger patty on top of veggies
Top with a spoonful of mushroom soup
Bring both ends of foil up and fold together to seal well on top, and then do the same on both sides. Repeat making foil packets until all veggies and burger patties are used up.
Preheat BBQ grill, or campfire (or 350 *F oven), and when coals are hot and gray lay the packets on a grate about 6 to 8 inches above them
Let packets cook for 15 to 20 minutes and then carefully and gently flip and rearrange the packets so they can cook evenly on the other side for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Open one packet and test the veggies for doneness
When done, remove the packets and serve one packet per person.
Enjoy!!!!!!
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the way of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.”
Soooooooo… Each summer I try to think of creative ways to seize the moments with my grandchildren. The first year I focused on skill building/tutoring type stuff and learning styles (see my School’s Out for Summer blog post). The next year I went with daily themes/ boredom busters (see Summer Survival Guide). This year my focus has been on Summer Reading.
I wanted to get them some fun books they would want to read, but realized fairly quickly that picking books is a little more complicated than you would think, if you want to be successful. For instance, did y’all know that the reading level of books is usually printed near the bar code? Yeah, I had no clue. But, in all fairness it isn’t obvious. It’s like a secret code that only a few privileged people get to know about – such as an alphabet letter inside a triangle, or something like RL:2.1. A child’s reading level, I’ve discovered through much research, is super important when picking books, because it will directly affect their enthusiasm for reading. When developing a love for reading in a child the books cannot be too easy or too difficult, and therefore it is super important to get that part right. I’ll explain more of what I’ve discovered about the reading level codes and such in just a minute.
In the meantime, I began my book search at Amazon.com, first gathering several highly rated, award/medal winning, quality books that were at my granddaughter’s reading level into my shopping cart. I probably ended up with about 30 or 40 books. After that, the next time she was over for a visit, I grabbed her up in my lap and we went through each and every one of those books, read the back covers together and flipped through the pages, weeding out the ones she was less interested in until she had picked her top ten. Some of the books were thicker and would take longer for her to read, some were thinner books that could maybe be read in an evening; some were dog stories, a couple were Roald Dahl, and so on. After giving her the opportunity to do the picking, you can imagine how excited she was for those books to come in. And now that they have, the child has been a reading fiend ever since, and her sister also. Her first pick: James and the Giant Peach.
Great choice, because Roald Dahl books have a ton of other trappings and odds and ends to go with them. So many have been turned into movies – which makes for a perfect celebration activity when the kid finishes a book, plus there are activity sticker books, a crazy Revolting Recipes cookbook (two actually) with recipes for all the wierd foods featured in his books, a dictionary which includes the crazy made up words he uses in his books, and there’s even a cute video game app (free) featuring the Twits that is super fun, if a little bit nerve-racking for kids!!!!! There’s even a Roald Dahl website with even more to offer, like a Party Pack for his 100th birthday celebration, and the subsequent Party Packs for his next two birthdays (2017 & 2018), which includes crossword puzzles, word searches, coloring pages, drawing activities, games, classroom decorations, party hats, invitations, and so much more. All of which are great for public school classrooms, home-school classrooms, and generally support a child’s enthusiasm for his books.
This is one of the activities we did together recently as a family after my granddaughter read James and the Giant Peach:
I surprised her with this “family supper” one night. The Revolting Recipes cookbook is loaded with recipes that are intended to be made together with the child. (I did a little ad-libbing with my renditions of the foods. I made a gravy for my Mud Burgers, rather than serving them on buns. I used my own deviled egg recipe for the Stink Bug’s Eggs, and rather than an apple for the Hot Frogs I used peach halves – in keeping with the peach theme, and they would have been even more delicious with grilled fresh peaches rather than the canned peaches, plus I let them swim in warmed tapioca – “frog eye soup” – rather than pudding).
And did you know James Patterson writes kid’s books now? Many are highly rated on Amazon. My granddaughter thought Dog Diaries would be fun to read, and she was right; she can’t wait to read it every night before bed, and tells her mom and me all about what she read because it is so funny and entertaining!!!
So, this is what has inspired my blogging today. I just wanted to pass along the knowledge I’ve discovered, and some terrific ideas that have worked really well for us.
ASSESSING READING LEVEL
Most modern chapter books show a reading level somewhere on the bar code label (or the inside pages at the front of the book). Poof *mind blown* I did not know this, did you? Look for either a number such as RL: 2.1, OR a letter inside of a triangle. The example RL: 2.1 translates to Reading Level: 2nd grade, 1st month. If the bar code shows a letter inside of a triangle, this is the Fountas & Pinnel reading level system. In this system A-C is Kindergarten levels, D-J is First Grade, K-P is Second Grade, Q-T is 3rd Grade, U-W is 4th Grade, X-Y is 5th Grade, and Z is 6th Grade and into middle school. There is also a Lexile measurement, but it is a little more complicated. (Note: if you really want to be an expert on your child’s reading level and ability, visit Reading Rockets).
So now, when we are out shopping with our kids and they run to us with a book they want to read, we can quickly decide if it is anywhere near their right age level or not.
If you can’t find the reading level on the book anywhere and you happen to have your smart phone with you, you can check it at the Accelerated Reading website (arbookfind.com). If the book title comes up, it will give you the reading level.
It is also helpful to check the reading levels of the last few books our kids have read and talk to them about them. Who were the characters? What was the story about? Was it easy to understand? Was there anything in the story you didn’t understand? Were there any words that you didn’t know how to pronounce, or that you didn’t know what they meant? Was the story hard to follow? If the last few books that they read were pretty easy for them (matched their grade level), the child was motivated to read them all the way to the end, and is able to tell you lots of details about them, chances are they were a pretty good reading level fit. Armed with this information, we might want to challenge them to go a little bit harder with their next book. It will add words to their vocabulary among other things. BUT NOTE that if a book is too easy children will lose interest out of boredom, and if a book is too hard for them to understand the child will lose interest out of frustration. Finding books that match their reading level is crucial to fostering a love of reading in them.
If you are looking for a way to more officially test your child’s reading level, I found websites that offer free reading level assessments, like: macmillanreaders.com/level-test/
If a book is on your child’s correct reading level and aimed at her interests, and is also well written and entertaining to her, she will at least be tempted to read it without a lot of coaxing on your part!!!!! My youngest grandchild was struggling with confidence issues. She didn’t think she could read so she didn’t even want to try, but I knew she recognized letters and that she had the skills to sound out words. So I picked up these beginning readers and they were just the ticket. The very first page offered words she recognized and words that were easy to sound out. When she realized she could read her confidence skyrocketed. These little readers were not only filled with beginning sight words she was familiar with and easy words she could sound out (at her reading level), but they are “irresistible” as advertised. Not only can she read them, she comprehends what she is reading, which is very exciting!!!!!
There are also ways to sweeten the deal, incentives to help motivate and encourage kids when their attention span is waning, which I’ll delve into in detail a little further down!!!! Biggest thing to remember is that this is NOT SCHOOL! There are no time constraints. There is no test at the end. There is no right or wrong way to read – our kids have the luxury of getting to read books they got to pick, which they can read by themselves, or if they would rather we can read them together. Reading should be FUN not a chore. It should be exciting, not drudgery. I sooooo want my enthusiasm to spark their enthusiasm. I want to be a cheerleader and a good role model.
ASSESSING LITERARY VALUE OF BOOKS
Caldecott and Newberry give “medals” to books with high literary value. You can also Google: Notable Children’s Books or Literature and see what comes up.
After you’ve nailed down their correct reading level, next make a pile of medal winning books (online shopping cart -or- brick & mortar bookstore), and finally go through the pile of books together. Flip through the pages and see how long it is and how small the print is. Read the back covers. Read a few pages. Narrow down the giant pile to about ten books that most interest them. And then…
ASSESSING SUBJECT MATTER
Once you have the giant world of children’s books pared down to a child sized pile of quality literature that matches her interests and reading level, you can weed out the ones that might have objectionable content. Obviously there is really only about one or two ways to go about this. One, is to read the books ourselves before we let our kids read them. The bonus for this way is that it comes in handy later when we want to ask them questions about the book to access their comprehension, or come up with follow-up activities.
The second, is to read reviews at websites we trust the opinions of. Perhaps, like me, you are concerned with certain subject matter being appropriate and would like a good Christian review? In that case, you might find the following websites helpful:
These websites will usually alert parents to subject matter which might be offensive, controversial, or a maturity level that we would prefer to preview and prepare our kids for ahead of time.
* * *
DON’T FORGET – FIND A GOOD BEDTIME STORY BOOK
Depending upon our kids’ ages, we might want to consider also picking up a great story book that we can read to them. Everything I’ve read says it is good for kids to hear books read to them by someone who reads really well. It is bonding as well as skill building. I remember as a kid what a great reader my mom was, how soothing her voice was, and how much I looked forward to the nights when she had time to read bedtime stories to my sisters and me. She had a big book of bedtime stories that included Tall Tales, Fairy Tales, Aesop’s Fables, and Classics, like Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson, and Peter Rabbit. The fluid way she read, her voice inflection, her own enthusiasm for the stories, made them come right off the pages and into my imagination. I wanted to grow up to read just like her.
These are a few such books:
A Treasury of Children’s Literature (Hardcover) by Armand Eisen
The Book of Virtues, A Treasury of Great Moral Stories
The McElderry Book of Aesop’s Fables (Hardcover) by Michael Morpurgo (Author), Emma Chichester Clark (Illustrator)
American Tall Tales (Hardcover) by Mary Pope Osborne (Author), Michael McCurdy (Illustrator)
* * *
ACTIVITIES AND REWARDS
Some kids are naturally attracted to reading and will take to it like a duck in water. Oh glorious days! Others are more math minded, or science minded, or just lazy. It’s not a lost cause to get them to want to read, it’s just a matter of getting creative to find the subject matter that will hook them. Finding books about kids with their similar likes and dislikes is one way to do it. Maybe comic books would be more their thing. Maybe reading to them instead of beating our head against a wall trying to get them to read on their own?
Motivating our kids to read by letting them picking great books of interest to them is one way, but also following up their efforts with fun activities is, well, jam on the peanut butter…is chocolate syrup on the ice cream… is icing on the cake!
In trying to make reading fun for my grandkids I had to ask myself, “What makes reading fun for me?” I’m one who hated (all caps, bold letters, double underlined, and triple exclamation mark – HATED!!!) reading in school, and I am still not a huge book reader as an adult. I do however enjoy Bible study. Family history research, old photographs, and pedigree charts. I like audio books when I’m going to be stuck in the car for a long drive. It is more motivating to me to read if I am part of a book club or something that involves fellowship and food once a week. I like historical fiction. I enjoy mysteries. I like stories like the Little House books – I’m not sure what that genre is, biographies or dramas maybe? I honestly prefer children’s books because they are a quick read and I have a short attention span. I don’t like horror, romance, science fiction, or fantasy. I love writing and illustrating so much more than reading. Our kids are not so different in their likes and dislikes and tastes from us. Sometimes all it takes to motivate a kid is to give them opportunities that are so appealing they can’t resist.
Kids who like to read might find it enjoyable to have a favorite little nook to read in. Maybe a secluded space by a window, with a shag area rug, a bean bag chair or giant stuffed animal to lounge on, and a groovy free-standing lamp sitting next to it, tucked away in a secret corner of the attic, or in a tree house, or a lovely little bench in the garden? Maybe our child would enjoy reading with soft noise in the background or music – classical music, piano or guitar music, or white noise like thunder, lightening, and rain, or ocean waves, or gentle wind?
Kids who don’t ever sit still long enough to read might enjoy taking a drive through pretty country, looking out the window with binoculars and listening to an audio book that captures their imagination? Or, rather than listening to the audio book in the car, they would prefer to listen while we all as a family do some project together, like draw, or color, or paint, or clean a room?
When my kids were little I created opportunities for us to get out and read. We would pack up some drinks and snacks, and a big blanket, and we’d head to a shady, secluded spot in one of our city’s huge sprawling parks, or we’d drive up to a lookout or back country road on the mountain with our snacks and big blanket. Sometimes we’d invite grandma to join us, and spend an afternoon browsing magazines, perusing cookbooks, or thumbing through whatever print material that suited our fancy that day – even puzzle books, quiz books, illustrated dictionary, and catalogues counted.
Sometimes what kids hate about reading (me) is having books chosen for them, with subject matter that isn’t the least bit interesting to them, not to mention all the painful formalities of the classroom – oral book reports, testing, reading out loud, etc. UGH! Maybe they just have ants in their pants and can’t sit still long enough to get into a book. Perhaps just creating an environment that is geared toward their unique dispositions might just help them blossom into the burgeoning reader we are hoping for them to be??? We just need to find that gateway drug that gets them hooked. 🙂
Maybe all my kid needs is to get to go to the library or book store once a week and hang out looking at all the books available to them there? Or, maybe it is getting to do an activity that is featured in a book they are reading – especially if it’s one they never heard of before (playing a game of marbles, catching butterflies in a net, making a cane pole and trying to catch fish with it, floating on a raft, flying a kite, building a tree house or fort, etc.)? Perhaps the introductions to such new discoveries will trigger something in them?
In my research, I came across this comment in a thread of a post on Facebook and it is just too apropos not to pass along:
“Jon David Groff writes: As a junior/senior high school English Language Arts teacher, I have stopped doing the traditional novel study. After reading The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller, one summer, I went out and gathered together a decent classroom library. Come September, I told students that we would no longer do a formal novel study. They loved it. Then I told them they’d instead have a goal to read 40 book — one a week. They were not happy.
However, they could read what they wanted, didn’t have to write reports or assignments on what they read, would have some class time dedicated to reading, had no marks whatsoever tied to how many books they read or didn’t read, could abandon books they didn’t like, books over 350 pages counted as two books, and they could get books from wherever they wanted.
Most kids loved it. One grade 12 boy that year came to me after two weeks and said he’d finished the first book of his life and wanted the second in the series. I had a parent come to me at After a Christmas and day on vacation her daughter insisted on taking books into restaurants even though she’d never liked reading before. I now play ball on a team with a student who graduated who has thanked me for getting her into reading by using this approach.
I’ve since reduced the book count to 20 books a year — one every two weeks. I read when students read. They keep a book journal online that tracks their genres, book totals, and a any comments they want to make. I do also. I report their book count on each report card (but there’s still no grades) and use their own reflections about reading to help parents understand if they are happy having read 50 books or 5 for the year. For some, those 5 books are more than they’ve read over the previous 5 years. For others, their 50 books is a bit of a disappointment.
Last year, I began a monthly book challenge, completely optional, and most having nothing to do with reading speed. Challenges like, “carry a book EVERYWHERE for the month” or read in the craziest place and get a pic or vid (staff voted on the winner), or read to another person under age 10 or over age 60 — bonus entries for length of time, groups of three or more, and if they were strangers (haha). Every month I’d take those who chose to participate and entered them in a draw for a $15 Chapters-Indigo gift card.
Next year, my grade 8 students will participate in a Gamification class that attempts to do a lot of crosscurricular between LA and Social. They will have mutant powers and travel through history to stop a villain. And they will need to read a book about time travel in order to adopt that method of time travel for their own. They’ll create a visual text of the time travel method. But again, the choice of book will be there’s. (If you have any suggestions or want to donate books on Time Travel to my classroom library, please please please let me know. My summer reading is all time travel books and I’m trying to scrounge up enough books for 55 students, which means roughly 75 books if I’m going to be able to offer choices. That’s a lot of books and money.)
I’m trying to make reading fun and done in a way that adults read rather than the way school typically make kids read. Because even I don’t like reading books I’m told I have to in order to write a test based on someone else’s opinion of the book. We learn our curriculum using short stories, short films, movies, poetry, non-fiction, and other types of texts. We save books for enjoying, sharing, discussing . . . and actually reading!
*I’m sorry for the long response, but I wanted to share what I’m doing and to let others know that not all teachers are happy doing things the traditional way.”
MORE IDEAS
»Encourage your kids to spy out new words and perhaps make a word-journal. We could even pay them for every 10 words they find that they didn’t know how to pronounce or what it meant before, and let them choose what to do with the money. We could make those new words into a game where we are all challenged to use those words, like a secret word a day game, in sentences with other family members. Remember on Pee Wee’s Playhouse where they would have a secret word and any time someone said that word, bells and whistles would go off. Yeah, maybe kind of like that!
» If our child chooses a book that has been made into a movie, we can reward the completion of the book by going to the movie, or renting the DVD and making a family movie night out of watching it. Maybe set it up as a backyard movie with a popcorn bar and root beer floats, and even let them invite their friends, or extended family, if they want.
» Choose an activity from the book to do together as a family (ie. Maybe the people in the book went out for Chinese food and ate something unfamiliar – like dim sum, or there was a horse race, or a dog parade, or the family went camping by a lake or on the beach, or there were racecars, or star-gazing, or gymnastics/dance/skating, or fishing, or picking berries and baking a pie, or watching/playing a ball game, or making Indian crafts, or growing a garden, or visiting a museum, etc.). If the story was about an artist, maybe the family would like to take an art class together? If it was about a nurse or fireman, perhaps the family would like to take a CPR class together or visit a hospital/firestation/police station? If it had a part in it about sailing on a boat (I’m thinking of Stewart Little) – maybe find a nearby sailing regatta to attend?
» If the book was a spy book, we could send the child on a spy adventure. Give them a pen and notebook and camera and let them do some detective work to see and report back on what the family cat does all day, or who mows the lawns in the neighborhood and on what days, or what time the mailman delivers the mail each day and how much of that mail is advertisements (junk). We could reward them with a puzzle book and some fancy mechanical pencils.
» Does your town have a few Little Free Libraries tucked away here and there in various neighborhoods or public parks near you? The kids might enjoy making a habit of taking their unwanted books and trading them or donating them to a Little Free Library. Sometimes if there is a bench nearby one of these Little Free Libraries, its fun to just sit and look through some of the books rather than take them.
» Pin a world map on the wall and locate where the stories take place. Then rent a travel video of the places and watch it together. Or pin-up a history timeline and locate the time period when the stories each took place. And then find what other things were happening in the world during that time, or how things are done differently now than they were then. We could visit an antique store, or spend a morning going to yard sales and trying to find knick-knacks or dress-up clothing from that time period that they kids could use to create their own backyard play with.
» Allow our kids to change their mind about a book, and move on to something else if it is boring or too difficult to get into.
» Maybe comic books are your kid’s thing!
» Perhaps a children’s Bible Study is right up their alley. The Quest by Beth Moore is one suggestion, and Kay Arthur has written some as well.
» Maybe our whole family would love listening to an audio book to pass the long miles of a road trip vacation? Take along a sketch book so they can doodle while we all listen, or take along a craft (needlepoint, crochet, knitting, weaving, whittling, yarn and finger games like Cats-eye, bead necklaces, friendship bracelets, tying flies, kenetic sand, playing solitaire on an i-pad, or watching out the window to spot eye-spies on a checklist/scavenger hunt) that can be done on one’s lap while listening. Or encourage the kids to make up a story to tell to all of us using story cards (like Tell Tale, Story War –included here only for a suggestion on how to play such a game, or Create-a-Story Board).
» We could give the kids an opportunity to write their own stories, and make their own books, with homemade book covers (cloth/scrapbooking paper/wall paper samples and cardboard), let them take and add pictures, or draw illustrations. Help them to make a rough draft, use some of the new vocabulary words they’ve learned, do some editing, and then re-write it in their very best handwriting. The books, if they are very well done, would make great gifts for grandparents at Christmastime, or a great gift for their teachers at Back-to-School night in the fall, or just to keep as a keepsake in their baby books forever.
Okay, well, I guess that’s all I’ve got for us for now. I hope I’m not coming across as a know-it-all. Far be it for me to tell anyone else what to do when I don’t even have it figured out for myself yet. Just gathering my research into one place, and sharing it with the hopes that you feel as encouraged and empowered as I do now to foster a love of reading in our precious kiddos over the summer, and hopefully for the rest of their lives! God richely bless you!!!!!
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he old he will not depart from it.”Proverbs 22:6
I was given the opportunity recently to make a bunch of tissue paper flowers for a school project. I had so much fun with it honestly, and thought, these sure would make a beautiful decoration, or they could be used for head garlands (as pictured here) which are pretty popular in Texas, or Homecoming Mums (another Texas thing), or to decorate Derby hats, or for a garden tea party, or luau, or FiEsTa(which happens to be going on in San Antonio at this very moment), which got me to thinking that somebody else out there might appreciate knowing how to make these. I also sure don’t want to ever forget how I made them, so… that’s as good a reason as any to blog about something, me thinks.
Materials needed: 1 package of multi-colored tissue paper, a good pair of sissors, a stapler, and string (optional).
A large package of multi-colored tissue paper is fairly inexpensive to buy at the big box stores ($10 for 100 sheets). And one of those packages will give you more than enough paper to make 100 flowers that are roughly the size of one of those mesh shower pouf thingies. (If you want to make giant flowers, you could probably squeeze 10 or so out of a package???)
So here is how you make them. First open the package of tissue paper and separate the colors. Straighten up the sheets so that they lay exactly on top of each other. Peel off two sheets of one color of the tissue paper.
Now, I’ve included visual instructions below that will hopefully be easy to follow, but I will also explain…
Gather your materials. It will help to have a large table where you can spread out the tissue paper into individual color piles. (My poor sissors, you’ll notice, have issues, actually just one issue. I don’t know what happened, but they are Fiskers, and the handles have decomposed over the years since I first bought them. They are sticky now, and almost clay-like. The stuff was coming off on my hands and making my hands sticky, so I wrapped the handles in strips of paper towel. Has this happened to anyone else? Or is it just the humidity in the south that has made mine do this?)
Peel off 5 sheets of tissue paper and stack them together neatly. Then starting at the bottom fold up about an inch width and press it flat.
Flip the stack over and fold the other direction, and press flat.
Continue folding in an accordion pattern until you reach the other end.
Press the stack flat.
Fold the stack in half to mark the center place.
Press it flat to make a good crease.
Open and place under the stapler, and place a staple on exactly that center crease line. Option: you can also tie a string around this center part so you will have something to tie the flower, to attach it to whatever you are decorating.
(Photo just shows the staple being present)
Now cut one end with whatever pattern you wish for the type of flower you wish to make (see diagram below)
Cut the first end and discard the scraps
Then cut the second end to match
Fan out the ends to make it easy to separate the individual sheets
Orange shows a gardenia type flower
Purple shows a hydrangea type flower
Pink shows a peony type flower
Green shows a magnolia type flower
Blue shows a Zinnia type flower
Red shows a Carnation type flower
Gray shows a Dahlia type flower
Yellow shows a Chrysanthemum, or Mum type flower
14. Fan out both ends
15. Carefully peel off the top sheet and pull it away from the others, up towards the center
16 – 18. Continue separating sheets and pulling them up towards the center on both ends, going around in a circle
19. Smooth out the last sheet to flatten out the bottom
20 – 23. Bring the flower around and fluff each peddle to make them all uniform and fill in any gaps.
24 – 26. Set your flower down and admire how pretty it is. Then pick another color and continue making flowers.
The center pom kind of makes a flower that looks like a cactus flower. You can do the same sort of thing with green tissue going out the bottom to look like the bud part of the bloom (just cut it with deep zig zags instead of the fringe). You can also experiment with various cuts, and you can also layer two colors of tissue together to make more interesting options. Here are some samples of the flowers I made. They turned out soooooo pretty?
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”
Ooooooo I love the salads of summer!!!!! This is one of my favs. My neighbor, Don Kinion used to make it every summer from the abundance of his garden, and lucky us, we got a gift of a nice big jar full every few weeks during the late harvest season, when he had tomatoes and cucumbers coming out his ears. I have never been able to duplicate his perfect recipe, but this comes pretty close. Hats off to you neighbor. Hope you are doing well!!!!
Ingredients
1 burpless cucumber (the long, skinny, plastic wrapped ones, if you are buying from the store, or any variety grown in the garden)
2 packages of the sweetest cherry tomatoes in the produce department, (or a small bowl full of freshly harvested Sweet One Hundreds Cherry Tomatoes, from the garden)
1 Red Onion (they grow these where I live and so I get the luxury of fresh from the fields, in fact, they often fall off the harvesting trucks right in front of my house. Ditch food!!!! Love it!)
1/2 cup good quality Olive Oil
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
Mix up the dressing ingredients first (olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper), place in a large mason jar, and park in the fridge until ready to mix with veggies. Give it a shake every once in a while.
Peel some of the skins from the cucumbers. If you are using the long, skinny store bought ones, the skin if find to leave on. It is very tender. But some garden cucs have tough, bitter skins. I like to leave some of the skin on anyway. But taste the cucumbers to make sure they aren’t bitter.
Chop the cherry tomatoes in half.
Slice the onion into thin slices, and then give them a rough chop. Mix all the veggies together in a large glass bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss to coat and then chill for a few hours in the fridge. Give them a stir every once in a while (couple hours) until ready to serve.
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Serve this alongside any BBQ meat… (or eat it all by itself!!!!! 🙂)
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“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:1-4
This salad makes a terrific side for any BBQ meal, but honestly, I could eat the whole bowl of this all by itself for dinner. Hey, and small tip (take it or leave it)… when I am taking this for a church pot luck or another big get-together I keep the dressing and the slaw separate from each other until the last-minute before serving. I prefer my slaw crunchy not wilted, and creamy rather than runny.
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (juice discarded, or saved for something else)
7 cups shredded and chopped green cabbage
½ cup thinly sliced and diced Fuji apple (skin on, core and stem removed) – if not serving right away toss in a baggie with some lemon juice to prevent browning.
¼ cup white raisins (must be white, no icky dark raisins)
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup slivered, toasted almonds
Directions
In small bowl, mix Mayo, True Lemon powder, sugar, and crushed pineapple together, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (The reason I use True Lemon powder instead of juice is just to create the creamiest texture).
In large bowl toss cabbage, apple, raisins, and bell pepper. Cover and keep in fridge until ready to serve.
Just before serving toss dressing with cabbage and then toss in almonds. Serve immediately.
This slaw makes a great side dish for smoked or grilled meats, such as…. (pictured below top to bottom, L to R are BBQ Brisket, grilled Chicken Bombs, Bistecca or Chimichurri Steak, Chopped Pepper Steak with Blue Cheese Garlic Butter, grilled Texas Redfish, PiriPiri Chicken, Pork Loin, grilled Kielbasa, and Korean Style Ribs).
Have a blessed meal, my friend!❤
“Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred.” Proverbs 15:17
Where were you when you first experienced fish tacos? Can you remember the day, the place, and the time? Did the world stop spinning for just a moment as your tongue delighted in their savory goodness? Were yours as life changing for you as mine were for me? LOL!
Well, I first experienced FISH TACOS when we visited our daughter in Seattle. She took us to the Experience Music Project, and during our tour there we decided to eat lunch in the little restaurant downstairs of that massive building. It was a foodie little haven with a modest but eclectic menu.
I was a little sceptical about “fish tacos” when I first heard of them, having only an image of beef tacos in my head – with taco seasonings, lettuce, and cheese, but everyone I knew simply raved about them. So, I decided to put my mommy money where my mommy mouth was and actually taste them before I judged them. Best decision ever!!!! They were out of this world, my new favorite food, and I’ve been just a little bit obsessed about them ever since.
They are easy to make from scratch, but now that I am cooking for two I often make them from doggie-bag catfish from our favorite local restaurant.
Ingredients
For the Fish
Fish, just about any mild white fish works (Cod, Barramundi, Red Fish, Tilapia, etc.) about 1 nice sized piece per taco, so about 12 to 15 pieces (and at 3 tacos apiece, this recipe will feed about 4 or 5 people)
Seasoned Flour (to 1 1/2 cups flour add about 1/2 tsp of each: garlic powder, paprika, ground oregano, onion powder, ground cumin, salt, sugar, and cayenne powder) (or you can cheat and use a preseasoned fish fry coating, or a cajun spice in place of the individual seasonings)
Beer or Dry White Wine (or water will also work in a pinch)
Hot oil to fry the fish in
For the Slaw
1/2 of a red cabbage
1/2 of a green cabbage
1/2 of a large white onion
3 red radishes
1/2 cup cilantro
Juice of 1 or 2 limes (2 if they are small)
For the Sauce
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Mayo
2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup cilantro, very finely minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime
1 jalapeno (or serrano), very finely minced
Dash of Sriracha, to taste
Pinch of Kosher salt, to taste
Also need about 12 to 15 white corn tortillas and a little oil to soften them in
Directions
As a time saver, you can make the slaw and the sauce ahead of time – early in the day, and keep them in the fridge until ready to assemble.
Shred the cabbages into thin strips and then give them a rough chop, cut the onion into the same size thin strips, slice the radishes into slices and then cut them into thin strips, and chop the cilantro. Toss all together in a bowl and squeeze lime juice over. Toss again to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge.
For the sauce, mash the avacados with a fork until smooth. Add to sour cream and mayo. Stir in cilantro, garlic, and as much of the jalapeno or serrano as you prefer. Squeeze lime juice in and stir. Add Sriracha and salt to taste. To make it really smooth you can whirl it in a food processor for a few moments. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge until ready to assemble.
Add a little vegetable oil to a skillet and place on medium high heat. Add one tortilla at a time and soften by frying it briefly on each side and then removing to a paper towel lined plate. Add oil to the pan as needed after several tortillas have been fried. Cover tortillas with foil and place in a warm place until ready to assemble.
Now, you can prepare the fish however you prefer. If you like it grilled, you can season the pieces with a mixture of the same spices that are listed for the flour, and then just grill each piece a few moments on each side on an outdoor grill or indoor grill until it flakes easily.
If you like it fried, you can rinse the pieces off with cold water and then toss them in the seasoned flour to coat, and then fry them in hot oil (the same frying pan that you used for the tortillas) for a few minutes on each side until when tested they flake easily.
Or, if you like them batter fried (my fav), place peanut oil in a dutch oven or deep fryer enough so that the fish pieces will be completely covered, but make sure your pot is large enough that it won’t boil over when the fish are added a few pieces at a time. Heat and keep the oil temp between 350 to 375 degrees F. You can add beer or white wine to the seasoned flour (about an equal portion 1 to 1) and stir. Add more liquid until it is about the consistency of a thin pancake batter, then dip your rinsed and patted dry pieces of fish in the batter and drop in hot oil and fry until when tested it flakes easily.
Or, if you have a mess of catfish that have been cornmeal battered and fried, the leftovers make excellent tacos. I actually do this quite often.
To Assemble
BTW: I have some nifty taco plates that are awesome for taco assembly:
Lay one (or two small) piece(s) of fish in the center of each tortilla, and then add a small mound of slaw, and finally top with a nice dallop of sauce. Fold in half and enjoy. Mmmmmm! Just let your eyes roll back into your head while your tongue finds its happy place. Wipe mouth and repeat, repeat, repeat.
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“Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.”
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.”John 21:5-6 (NKJV)
I love theme dinners! And Polynesian is one of those themes that has tons to offer… tons of great foods… lots of great music… and a motherlode of great activities. That’s probably why luau parties are so popular. They are great for a crowd (family reunions, company picnics, neighborhood get-togethers, graduation parties, youth group events, and so on).
That’s all well and good, but I had in mind something a little more intimate. In my younger life, I had the idea to have monthly theme dinners just for family – just to make memories for my kids. January’s theme was Chinese New Year, where we dressed up, ate Chinese foods, listened to Asian music, played some sort of Chinese games after dinner, and totally immersed ourselves in Asian culture for a night. February was Cajun foods, music, and culture. March was Irish. April was Polish or Italian. May was Mexican or Caribbean. June was Polynesian or African. July was American (which encompasses everything from BBQ to Burgers, to Hot Dogs in every variety). August was South American or Australian. September was Russian or French. October was German. November was American Indian. And December was Indian or Mediterranean. That was my plan. It was so much my plan that I wrote a whole book about it, but then I kind of lost my focus. <Sheepish shrug> Well, thankfully God has given me grandchildren, and a whole renewed interest in introducing them to the cultures and foods, and sounds, and pastimes of the world. And the great thing is … SUMMER IS COMING!!!! Which makes it a great time to introduce the kids to something fun and interesting and chase away those summer doldrums, not to mention it’s all kind of educational as well.
JUNE – Polynesian
Knickknacks, tanning mats, give a dog a fish bone. The dollar store is a great place to look for decorations. You can keep it simple (lay a bamboo tanning mat down on the table, set a tropical plant as a centerpiece, and lay out luau plates, cups, and silverware from the party store), or go hog-wild (outdoor party with mumus and sarongs, tiki lanterns, grass skirts, a limbo stick, kalua pig roasting on a spit, cold drinks in pineapples or coconuts, and a nice array of Makahiki games, Hawaiian crafts, and games). Gotta have some Island music too (may I suggest Don Ho?), and maybe even get the kids ukuleles, and teach them to play an easy song.
After dinner, you can break out the limbo stick and challenge the kids to a contest, or try some hula hooping. Then set the TV outside and gather the lawn chairs around for an outdoor movie night. How about a marathon of old Gilligan’s Island reruns? Or, for a real submersion into Hawaiian culture, make leis, learn to hula, set your back yard up with some of the Makahiki Games listed below, and watch a mesmerizing “Ha: Breath of Life” show on DVD.
Traditionally, a Hawaiian party would have deep pit roasted Kalua Pig, long rice (which is basically the same thing as Pad Thai rice noodles), some dish of sweet potatoes (purple), and Poi, or even Spam Musubi. If it is your goal to introduce your family to Hawaiian culture, go with tradition. I found some wonderful recipes HERE that I plan to try.
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Recipes
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COCONUT SHRIMP
Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
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1 lb large tail-on shrimp, peeled and deveined, and patted dry on paper towels
1 7-oz pkg shredded coconut
Instructions: Place peanut oil in deep fryer and set temperature to 375 degrees. Mix flour with wine until smooth. When oil has reached temperature, dip about 5 of the shrimp, one at a time in batter and then roll in coconut. Drop into deep fryer and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until golden and curled. Drain on paper towels. Continue until all shrimp are cooked.
Melted jalapeno jelly makes a wonderful dipping sauce (remove lid from jar, warm in microwave about 1 min., stir and divide into little sauce cups). Or see the sauce recipe later down on this page. Serves 4
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SPICY POLYNESIAN WRAPS
Ingredients
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch strips
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons curry powder (hot or mild as you wish)
Place the chicken and coconut milk in a bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator 1 hour.
In a pot, bring the rice and water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, curry powder, and garlic salt. Drain the chicken, and discard marinade. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture to coat.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the coated chicken strips 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown and juices run clear. Squeeze lime juice over chicken, and discard limes.
On each tortilla, place equal amounts of rice, chicken, coconut, and green onions, and sprinkle desired amount of Serrano chilies. Wrap burrito style.
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POLYNESIAN DIPPING SAUCE (for shrimp, or wraps)
Ingredients
13 ounces coconut milk
2 teaspoons green curry paste
1 tablespoon grated gingerroot
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
Directions:
Place coconut milk in a skillet and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced by a quarter – it should be the consistency of heavy cream. Stir in the green curry paste, ginger, lime rind, and sugar. Cook another 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce is thickened and fragrant. Stir in mint, cilantro, and lime juice. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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SPAM MUSUBI
3 cups cooked Sushi rice
4 sheets Spring Roll Wrappers (this is a MrsH modification: I’m not a fan of Nori)
1 12-oz can Spam
6 Tbsp Soy Sauce
6 Tbsp Hawaiian BBQ sauce
Furikake
I cut the end off of my Spam can with sissors to use to make my Musubi, and I used a wooden meat mallet to press the rice down. After making my musubi I have decided Nori is just too healthy tasting for my taste, so after making it with Nori, I peeled the Nori off to eat it, and next time I’m going to try making it with rice paper (Spring Roll Wrappers) instead. I also didn’t care for the Furikake (rice seasoning) because of the seaweed that was in it. The one I used was Wasabi Fumi Furikake. It had a good flavor that really does need to be there, but just warning you not to go hog wild with it if you aren’t a seaweed fan. I do like wasabi and sesame. And I added chopped green onion. Maybe there is a variety of Furikake without seaweed???
Prepare the Rice as per package instructions. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, cut the Spam into eight equal slices. Fry the Spam in a frying pan until very crispy on both sides. Mix soy sauce with BBQ sauce and pour over Spam. Stir around and flip until sauce is carmelized onto the Spam. Remove from heat.
This is the process for making the musubi: (shown using Nori seaweed)
Cut each sheet of Nori in half. Lay half a sheet down on a clean paper towel. Place Musubi press (Spam can) in the center. Add about a heaping tablespoon of rice and press down. Add a sprinkle of Furikake. Place a slice of Spam on top. Sprinkle with more Furikake and add another heaping tablespoon of rice. Press it all down firmly and hold down while lifting can off. Wrap Nori around. Cut each finished roll on the diagonal and serve. *Below is what Musubi looks like without the seaweed wrapper. I wrapped my musubi up in plastic and refrigerated them overnight. The next day I removed from fridge, peeled off the Nori, and cut them into bite-size slices. Much better!
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HAWAIIAN SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
5 medium Sweet Potatoes, baked in 350*F oven for 1 hour, until soft
2 green bananas, diced
1 cup diced and crushed fresh pineapple
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime (also the zest)
2 Tbsp Cocunut syrup (may substitute honey)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup crushed macadamia nuts
After potatoes have cooled, peel the skins off and discard skins. Slice the potatoes into inch thick slices and lay in a single layer in a buttered oblong baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and drizzle with melted butter. Add a layer of pineapple and bananas. Press down with a spatula to mash the potatoes slightly. Mix lime juice with coconut syrup and pour over potatoes evenly. Sprinkle with coconut and macadamia nuts in an even layer. Cover and bake in a 300*F oven for about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 mintues until toasted on top. You can also broil the dish for a few minutes to toast the top if you wish.
HAWAIIAN LONG RICE (MrsH’s super easy version)
Cook a box of Pad Thai rice noodles as directed on package. Drain off most of the water, but leave the noodles a little soupy. Add a can of Campbells Creamy Chicken soup to the noodles and stir to mix. Serve with chopped green onion for garnish.
GRILLED PINEAPPLE
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Dessert
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ISLANDER’S COCONUT CREAM PIE
1 prepared pie crust, baked as directed for cream pies
1 package of vanilla pudding, the kind that cooks, not instant
1 package coconut flakes
1 container of Cool Whip with 1 tsp. rum mixed in
Broken, slivered almonds
Cook pudding as package directs using 1/2 cup less liquid. Add 1 cup of the flaked coconut to the pudding and stir to mix. Pour into prepared crust and spread to fill evenly. Chill until set. Spread Cool Whip over pudding in piecrust. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flaked coconut and then almonds over the top. Chill to set.
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HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Ingredients
1 8-oz can Dole pineapple slices, drained (reserve juice for serving)
1 stick butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 maraschino cherries, halved
In an large oblong cake pan melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Arrange pineapple slices next to each other in three rows of four. Place a half of a cherry in the center of each pineapple.
Cake Ingredients
2 ½ cups All-Purpose flour
3 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 eggs
1 ½ cups milk (or substitute Coconut Milk)
Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Beat softened butter with sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time beating after each. Stir in dry ingredients and milk. Beat with a mixer until thick and creamy. Pour over pineapple slices in large baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm. If you desire your cake a little more moist, drizzle with reserved pineapple juice.
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Beverages
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Iced Thai Tea, my latest addiction!!!!!
THAI TEA
1 pkg Thai Black Tea bags (available at World Market)
Water
Sweetener (sugar, agave nectar, honey, Stevia, as you prefer)
Half & Half
Place 8 teabags and 8 cups of water in a saucepot and bring just to the steaming point on high heat on the stovetop, and then remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes. The tea will become dark orange colored. Add whatever choice of sweetener to taste, I like this tea a little on the sweet side. When the tea has cooled, pour it into a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
To serve: Pour tea over ice in a tall glass. Gently add Half & Half by the Tablespoonfuls until the top 1/4 of the glass is filled. Add a straw and serve. Let guests stir the cream into the tea before drinking.
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TROPICAL SMOOTHIES
Ingredients
1/2 ripe mango (peeled and seeded)
1/2 ripe papaya (peeled and seeded)
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup Cream of Coconut
1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 tsp. honey
2 cups ice
Directions
In a blender, mix mango, papaya, banana, orange juice, coconut cream, yogurt, honey, and ice. Blend until velvety. Serve in martini glasses and garnish with mini skewers of pineapple chunks.
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Other Adult Beverage options:
Fire Rock Pale Ale (beer) or Spearhead Pale Ale
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Cocktails
FROZEN MAI TAI
1 cup of ice
1 oz. light rum
1/2 oz. dark rum
1/2 oz. Apricot Brandy
1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple
Splash of sour mix & Splash of orange juice
Blend all ingredients in a blender for 4 seconds on low speed. Garnish with lime and orange slices, and a little paper umbrella. I f you want to make it non-alcoholic just use 1/2 tsp of brandy flavoring and 1 1/2 tsp of rum flavoring in a half a cup of soda water with the other ingredients.
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CAPTAIN MORGAN’S Piña COLADA
1/2 cup ice
2 oz. light rum
2 Tablespoons Cream of Coconut
1/2 fresh or canned pineapple
1 Tablespoon vanilla ice cream
Pineapple chunks, cherries, umbrellas for garnish
In blender blend until smooth. If too thick add fruit or juice. If too thin add ice or ice cream. Garnish with Pineapple and Cherry, and a little paper umbrella. You can use a mix to make these if you would rather… and you can make them non-alcoholic by substituting rum flavoring and soda water.
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Traditional Island games
Walk on Hot Coals
Dig a shallow pit about three feet wide by six feet long and fill it with charcoals. Add starter fluid to get the charcoals burning. Cover them completely with medium-sized smooth rocks and let the rocks get hot. Any guests who are brave or foolish enough may hop across the rocks with their bare feet.
‘O‘O Ihe(Spear Throwing)
Spear throwing contests were held to display strength and skill for fighting and food gathering. A target, sometimes the stalk of a banana plant, is set up and contestants stand some 15 feet away and attempt to stick a lightweight wooden spear in it. Watch the video below, which features spear throwing and other traditional games.
A great alternative for the littler ones would be the inflatable Fish Spearing Game at Party America.com or Party City.com, if they still carry it as of the time of this writing. If not, this is what it looks like and you can make your own version out of a an old toilet seat (padded and decorated) and a bamboo stick. Hang it in a tree in the corner of the yard.
‘Ulu Maika’ (Rolling Stones)
Based on ancient Hawaiian Makahiki games, this game is played similar to horseshoes. Stones somewhat resembling modern hockey pucks were rolled between stakes on specially prepared courses to test a player’s skills, or rolled down long courses to show strength. One of the best of the remaining ‘ulu maika courses, approximately 500 feet long, is located on the island of Moloka’i.
Moa Pahe‘e (Dart Sliding)
Using a wooden dart, which resembles a very small bat without the little grip stop on the end (maybe 8” long) with the skinny end and the fat end, you grasp the skinny end and toss the dart like a bowling ball between two stakes.
Conch Blowing
Blowing a conch shell takes skill: you have to know how to purse your lips, where to place them for the best sound, and how hard to blow. (The sounds made by a novice are hilarious!)
Foot Races
Ancient Hawaiians used to hold foot races to see which warrior was the fastest. You can hold single person races, three legged races, and backwards running races. Watch the first video above, under spear throwing, for an example.
“Haka Moa”
Type of Hawaiian Luau fighting. The contestants do not use their hands, and can only stand on one foot, and try to knock their opponent out of the ring.
Tug O’ War
To play this game you will need a 20’ length of rope, a 6’ length of rope, and a bandana.
Divide your guests into two equal teams. Choose a large grassy or sandy area to play. Place the 6’ rope on the ground in the middle of the chosen area. This marks the centerline. Have teams line up in single file on either side of the centerline, arms length apart. Tie the bandana in the center of the 20’ rope and place over the centerline. Each player grabs the tugging rope and at the signal tries to pull the first member of the other team over the centerline.
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Card Games
HIGO BANA
This is a card game played with special Hana Fuda cards. I was introduced to it by a friend whose mother was Japanese. She gave me a set of these cards many, many years ago. I’ve even forgotten how to play it has been so long. So I went online to see if I could find the rules. How thrilling to find that this game is played by native Hawaiians under a different name. The cards do not have numbers on them, only beautiful pictures, but they have point values. Along with the rules I found some vendors who sell the cards.
There are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet: A, E, H, I K, L, M, N, O, P, U and W. The consonants H, K, L, M, N, P, and W are pronounced exactly as in English. If a name ends in a consonant, add a vowel. Always place a vowel between consonants. The following conversion table can be helpful in translating names:
Add some true Island spice to your dinner with genuine Island customs:
Placing a lei over someone’s head is the customary way to welcome or congratulate them. If the person is close in relationship to you, you would give them a honihoni (kiss) also. Leis are usually made of flowers, but can also be made of candies or other decorative items. And when your lei starts to fade and die, don’t toss it in the trash. It is bad luck to throw a lei away. A lei is love and you would never throw love away. Rather cut the string and cast the flowers into the sea or hang the lei outside until it is gone.
I love that it is the custom in Hawaii for young ones to refer to older people as “auntie” or “uncle” when they are old family friends or neighbors of the parents. That is how we raised our kids to do. In Hawaii it is appropriate even to address a stranger as “auntie” or “uncle.” It is friendly yet respectful.
You would never walk into someone’s home in the islands with shoes on. And it is good manners to bring a small gift with you, possibly a dessert, when visiting someone’s home. There is a pidgin phrase, “Make Plate” or “Take Plate” that also shows good guest manners. When you have been invited to share a meal at someone’s home it is customary that you make a plate of food of the leftovers to take home, even if you don’t intend to eat it. By doing this you are being a good guest and not leaving the mess for the host to clean up and put away. Many times all the leftovers are packaged up and taken to the homeless.
Unless you are at a sporting event, it is considered rude to talk loudly, or to act like you are entitled to special treatment. Politeness and reserve are considered a show of good breeding.
Dress is casual, aloha shirts and slacks are worn in place of suits and ties in business, and it is considered rude to stare or look someone in the eye for too long in public places. And when you go away on a trip it is considered thoughtful to bring back gifts “makana” from your journey. Most prized are special foods that are unavailable at home.
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I’m so happy you stopped by, and I pray your family supper night is such a huge hit that it becomes a favorite monthly tradition. God bless!
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“Let love be without hypocrisy…be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
Sobering thought, isn’t it?
So, what is God’s will? Well, honestly that would make a terrific Bible study. There are lots of hints in scripture, “thou shalt not kill,” “thou shalt not steal,” “honor your father and your mother,” “ to “do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God?” To not just bless people and tell them we will pray for them, but to give them what they need, when it is within our power to do so. The following set of cards would make a terrific Bible Study.
It has been on my heart for some time to create this little set of cards, as a way to get in the habit of “hearing God’s word, and doing it“ every day! I had pictured in my mind a nice laminated set of cards, placed in a nice, sturdy, decorated recipe box or basket in the center of my kitchen table.
Each card would feature a daily scripture and a suggested daily random act of kindness.
Each morning, as I sipped my coffee, I could draw out one of these cards, read the scripture, then flip it over for a suggestion on how to be a doer of God’s word that day.
At the end of the day I could thank God for giving me seeds to sow, and also pray for the people touched by His love.
In the process I would become a pretty good expert on God’s will, and also hopefully have some fruit to show for this wonderful redeemed life He has blessed me with.
Creating this set of cards was such a huge project, it seems a waste to keep it all to myself. Me thinks there is possibly someone else out there in cyberland who would LOVE to have a set of them, someone who might want to do this little project with me, or with family, or youth group, or a women’s group. Or maybe print a set to give away to someone as a gift – like a teenager, who is going off to college?
At the bottom of this post I have provided you with the links to download my pdf files of the cards I created.
There is one file for the front design of the cards, and another file for the back side of the cards. First you’ll want to print one side and then the other on 8.5 X 11″ sheets of light card stock, then cut them apart. If you have a laminator you can laminate them to make them more durable and waterproof.
Or, if you’d like a nicer quality set you can save the files and take them to your local print shop and have them print the cards for you on a nice card stock. There are 91 pages in the file (file size is 185.5 KB), and so whatever your print shop charges for full color copies (Staples charges about .47 for color 8.5X11), multiply that times two for 2 sided color copies.
If color printing is too expensive, you can print them in black and white and they will turn out just fine. Or maybe your employer would let you print them at work if you bring your own paper or card stock???
If you want to skip making the cards, here are some ideas for random acts that you can print out and keep in your Bible:
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RANDOM ACTS AT WORK:
Be generous with praise. Thank others often. Pitch in and help when a coworker is overwhelmed (sometimes because of the death of a loved one, or recovery from an illness or accident, etc., or just learning the job). Leave a small gift (book, music CD, pretty pen, Starbucks gift card, etc.) in their mailbox, just because. Surprise someone with flowers, or balloons, whom you notice never receives such things.
“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4
RANDOM ACTS AT CHURCH:
Offer to clean an elderly member’s home. Take an elderly member to a doctor appointment. Take a casserole dinner to a new mom and help her fold clothes. Offer babysitting to a young couple for a date night. Rake leaves or shovel snow for a shut-in, or someone recovering from surgery. Buy groceries for the pastor/wife. Pick up a friend and take them to church with you. Take a new member to breakfast or lunch.
“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV
RANDOM ACTS IN THE COMMUNITY:
Here is an awesome and really fun sounding idea to do with our small groups (church cell groups) that a friend posted on Facebook:
“Oh my goodness! What fun and what a blessing. My church has a number of small groups that meet once a week for more intimate fellowship, Bible study and service to our community. We are doing a weekly service in our town called “Acts of Random Kindness.” We arrive with a list of acts of kindness we will do, in an hour, as we break up in smaller teams and compete with each other to accomplish the acts and make it back to our host house ahead of other teams. We ran off and paid for people’s groceries, went to gas stations and paid for gas for people and cleaned their windshields, gave flowers to unsuspecting random recipients, gave tips to waitresses without receiving their service, filled washers and dryers with quarters for people at public laundry mats, sang to fast food counter servers and retail sales persons, dropped gift baskets at random houses, read an encouraging poem to a person we came across, and many other acts that let people know they are special and that we care. The way people responded to us was so touching. I didn’t want the giving to stop. I told our leader that it reminded me of when I was a teen and we would do Chinese fire drills. Our adrenaline ran wild. As teams, we ran to each service, all participated, and then we ran back to the car laughing and feeling great about the lives we touched. I could do this every day! I received more than I gave. I think that was the lesson to each of us participating. It is such a joy to give. And…to give randomly, to whoever we see in front of us at the time. I encourage everyone to open your eyes to people you can show kindness to whether you think they deserve it or not.”
“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13
RANDOM ACTS AT HOME:
Leave a little note of encouragement in children’s lunchboxes or backpacks. Leave a sweet note on the mirror for spouse. Send a love text or prayer of encouragement to spouse during the day. Warm up and scrape the ice off of spouse’s vehicle – or turn on the A/C so the car is cool before they go to work. Surprise spouse with a little gift in their car, or on their side of the bed, or sitting next to their favorite chair in the living room (a new book, a new pair of pajamas, new socks, new gloves, movie tickets, new tool, lotion, candybar, flowers, etc.), just because.
“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
RANDOM ACTS FOR FRIENDS:
Send a card. Invite to lunch. Leave a small gift (potted plant, bottle of wine, bag of groceries, magazine/newspaper/book, a pretty wreath for their door, etc.) on the doorstep. Invite them to a pedicure. Make a mammogram appointment together and go pick her up. Invite to go shopping (clothes, antiques, farmer’s market, etc.). Invite to a play or movie.
“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3:17-18
RANDOM ACTS FOR NEIGHBORS:
Shovel their sidewalks while they are at work. Pull their weeds. Leave a potted plant on their doorstep. Invite them for supper. Visit with them over the fence. Help them wash their car, work on their car, repair a fence, etc. if you see them out doing that. Mow their yard while they are at work. Make a pretty wreath for their door.
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27
(This is one page of the front side design. 91 copies of this one page will be needed for one set of cards, or 92 copies if printing the extra page of blank cards).
(This is the whole set of cards. It is 91 pages in length, 4 cards per page)
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Bless you my friend. And let us not grow weary in doing good, for we shall reap a harvest if we do not give up!
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“Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? And when did we see You ailing or in prison, and came to You?’ “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Get ready for TACO TUESDAY!!!!!! This might be one of the more coveted recipes in my collection. I am often asked how I make my tacos. It is also a frequent request for Family Supper night by daughter, son-in-law, and the grandkids. It’s one of my husband’s favorite dinners, and really one of my favorites too!!!! Quick and easy!!!!
Let’s start with the meat…
I use 2 lb. of quality ground beef (to feed 4 adults and 2 kids) – a good organic, grass fed, angus beef. I break it apart in a frying pan and toss while cooking over medium high heat until browned. Drain off and discard the fat . I then sprinkle 2 packets of Lawry’s Taco Seasoning Mix over the meat, and then I fill the empty packets with water and pour the water over the seasoning and stir it well into the meat, with the heat turned down to medium low. To this I add about a half cup of salsa (fresh or canned) and stir that altogether. I then let the meat simmer on low heat until the tacos are ready to assemble.
The meat will become drier the longer it simmers. I personally like it dry so that it doesn’t make the bottom of my tacos soggy. I don’t like when they fall apart and all the stuffing falls out.
Pico de gallo
I use about 1 1/2 cup of chopped sweet cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped fresh jalapenos, and 1 cup chopped green onions (or a small sweet white onion if I don’t have green onions on hand), then add about 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 2 cloves of garlic minced, the juice of two limes, and a sprinkle of salt to taste. If the jalapenos are really mild, I sometimes add a pinch of cayenne for some kick.
Toppings
I chop one whole bunch of Romaine lettuce into small shreds.
I like to shred my own cheese (pepper jack) when I’m feeling ambitious, but often use a Mexican cheese blend that is pre-shredded already.
Taco Shells
I buy the small Old El Paso brand taco shells (2 pkgs to feed my family of 4 adults and 2 kids because the men will easily eat 6 tacos apiece or more).
I preheat my oven to 360*F, and set the shells in a baking pan. When the oven is ready I pop the pan of shells in for about 6 minutes, or whatever time is recommended on the package. This is an important step because it makes the shells nice and crispy!!!
Taco Sauce
I actually use a variety of sauces. I like to try new ones. The green tomatillo Herdez or La Costena hot sauces (medium) are both really good standbys. I like the Taco Bell hot sauce (Diablo), and the DelPrimo sauces are all good. But my favorite of recent is El Gallo flame roasted Jalapeno. It comes in a bag with a little screw top spout (medium).
To assemble the tacos I remove the shells from the oven and quickly fill them with meat, dispersing it evenly among the shells. I sprinkle cheese over the meat in each shell, and then add the lettuce. They each then get a spoonful of my fresh Pico and a generous pour of tomatillo taco sauce. That’s it! Mmmmmm…. let’s eat!!!!!!
Now some people might like to add chopped black olives, maybe some sour cream, possibly some sliced avacado, and that’s all good, but personally, I can’t bear to mess with perfection.
If you’d like to add a couple of sides, I love charros or refries and Mexican Rice. And you can never go wrong with Sopapilla Cheesecake for dessert!!!!! Hubby washes his meal down with a good Modelo cerveza! I just like iced tea. Gracee will take a Margarita, if I make her one, and the kids like horchata.
Hey, while we are enjoying our Family Supper, may I share with you from the book One Year of Dinner Table Devotions & Discussion starters by Nancy Guthrie (published by Tyndale)?
Whether you are looking for a fun dinner party for Mardi Gras, or just LOVE hot and spicy Cajun food in the middle of the winter, these recipes will have you smacking your lips for more. This is a collection of my most favorite Cajun recipes. Good luck choosing which dishes to make first. If you are like me, you’ll want to just celebrate NOLA for the whole month of February with a different Cajun dinner each weekend!
This was one of my favorite meals I did with my family one year for my dad’s birthday, and also on another occasion with my cooking club friends. It’s a ton of fun! Be careful though, it’s a little bit of a choke-fest if you do the crab boil indoors. Plan to have some sort of good ventilation, or else cook that dish outdoors.
If you buy an Etouffee mix and add shrimp or crawfish to it, you’ll end up with something that resembles brown gravy over rice with crawfish in it. It has a good flavor, but nothing beats homemade! I like mine on the spicy side, so I am fairly generous with the cayenne! The trick to getting just the right spice is to add some in the beginning, some during cooking, and some at the end.
2 lb Good Quality Shrimp, Peeled and Deveined (Use the shells to make a shrimp stock – recipe below)
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning Make your own: 2 Tbsp Paprika, 1 Tbsp Cayenne powder, 2 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp onion powder, 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, 1 tsp packed brown sugar, 1 tsp each freeze-dried chive, thyme, oregano, and cilantro. Whirl in a coffee grinder or Bullet until blended and a fine powder. Store in a tightly sealed container. Use within 1 year.
4 Tbsp Butter
½ Cup Onion, Chopped
¼ Cup Celery, Chopped
¼ Cup Bell Pepper, Chopped
¼ Cup Flour
1 ½ Cups Shrimp Stock
¾ Cup fresh Tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp minced Garlic
I bundle of Fresh Thyme
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Hot Sauce (Crystal or Louisiana Gold)
Also: salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste
½ Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp minced Italian Parsley
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
Rice (I like Comet Long Grain Rice, prepared as directed on the package)
Place shrimp in a Ziploc bag. Season with 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning and shake to coat on all sides. Store in refrigerator until later.
Make the shrimp stock now, recipe follows. Cook the rice. I usually cook mine and then set it off the burner without lifting the lid and let it rest for a while (maybe 20 to 30 minutes) to let it dry out a little. These three things can be done the day before and stored in the fridge.
Melt the butter in a large skillet; add the onions, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until translucent. Whisk in the flour to make a blonde roux, stirring constantly, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 Tbsp Creole Seasoning.
Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You may need a little more stock, but the end result should be the consistency of a gravy, not too thick, not too thin.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, salt to taste (yes, taste it), black pepper, and cayenne. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Add the seasoned shrimp that’s been holding in the fridge, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through. Stir in the 3 Tbsp butter, and adjust the seasonings to taste.
Serve over hot cooked Rice. If the rice was prepared the day before it can be reheated in the microwave for a minute or two. Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main dish.
Shrimp Stock Recipe
The Shells and tails from 2 lb. of Shrimp
½ Cup chopped Onion
¼ Cup chopped Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Lemon sliced
2 Fresh Bay Leaves
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 tsp. Black Peppercorns
Add all ingredients to a 2 qt. saucepan. Cover this with cold water, it should be about 6-8 Cups. You’ll need 1 ½ Cups for the Etouffee. Bring almost to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer. Simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Strain.
Tip: When adding fresh Thyme to a simmered dish like this, I always bundle the Thyme tightly with butchers twine. The leaves will remove themselves while cooking, and you will get all of the flavor from the stems. When ready to serve just remove the bundle of stems along with your bay leaves.
CAJUN SEAFOOD GUMBO (or Chicken and Sausage Gumbo)
Ingredients
12 ounces fresh or frozen peeled and deveined shrimp (or 2 chicken breasts)
6 ounces fresh or frozen crabmeat (or Andouille sausage)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cooking oil
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped red sweet pepper
½ cup chopped green sweet pepper, &/or 2 jalapenos
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground red pepper, more to taste
3 cups chicken broth, heated
1 14-1/2-ounce can tomatoes, cut up
1-1/2 cups sliced okra or one 10-ounce package frozen cut okra
2 bay leaves
3 cups hot cooked rice
Directions:
1. Thaw shrimp and crab, if frozen (or cut chicken into bite-size pieces and brown in butter in a frying pan).
For roux, in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven combine flour and oil until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir about 10 minutes more or until roux is light peanut-butter-brown.
2. Stir in onion, red sweet pepper, green sweet pepper, garlic, salt, black pepper, and ground red pepper. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are just crisp-tender, stirring often.
3. Gradually stir in hot chicken broth. Stir in undrained tomatoes, okra, and bay leaves. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
4. Stir in shrimp, and crabmeat (or andouille). Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes more or until shrimp turn opaque and oysters curl around the edges. Discard bay leaves. Serve in bowls with rice. Makes 6 servings. For extra heat add Creole seasoning, cayenne, or Louisiana Hot Sauce.
JAMBALAYA
I like the boxed Zatarains mix, and usually add leftover cooked chicken, andouille sausage, and shrimp (or crawfish) to it. Easy-peasy!
CRAB BOIL
1 box Zatarains Crab Boil
1 whole Dungeness crab, or 1 pound king or snow crab legs
1 pound crawfish
2 pounds shrimp (whole, or shell on)
1 bag small red or fingerling potatoes
1 pound Andouille sausage
4 cobs of corn on the cob, broken into 2 inch pieces
Cajun seasoning (like Slap Yo Mama)
Garlic butter (3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced, and added to 3 sticks melted butter)
Instructions
Using either a large soup pot with a lid or electric turkey fryer, fill with 3 quarts water. Bring to boil and add salt, plus 1 bag of Zatarain’s Crab Boil (if doing this indoors you will want all the windows and doors open because of the fumes – best done outdoors), 1 lemon quartered, and cayenne pepper to taste. Place the basket inside your fryer. If you are using a soup pot you will just have to pour the liquid out at the end and catch your pot contents with the lid or in a colander. Drop in crab and boil vigorously for 5 minutes (unless you are using precooked frozen, in which case you will add it with the shrimp at the end). Add potatoes and broken cobs of corn to the pot and boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Add the crawfish, chunks of andouille, and shrimp. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow seafood to remain in water for 5 minutes after boiling.
Lift contents from water or drain water off (save, strain, and freeze for use in other dishes). Drizzle seafood with melted butter and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning. Toss to coat. Cover your table with a plastic tablecloth; lay a beach towel or two over that and then lay butcher paper over the whole top. Dump the pot contents out on the butcher paper, in the center of the table. Place lemon wedges and extra cups of garlic butter around. Let everyone help themselves, eating with their fingers. You will want to have plenty of paper towels nearby and possibly bibs. Be sure to have some crab crackers and forks available too.
Photo by Sarah Gaitan
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Sandwiches (for a luncheon):
Poor Boy(<<< click the link for a great recipe, and little story about how the Poor Boy originated)
Shrimp Po’ Boy(<<< click this link for a killer recipe for this sandwich)
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Muffaletta
I got super lucky one day and found little bundles in my grocery store’s (HEB) lunchmeat counter of the three meats for this sandwich. The packages were nestled in among the shredded cheeses, near the Lunchables section. The bundles contained the three meats grouped on top of each other and laid on parchment paper, and then stacked on top of each other, enough for four sandwiches. I bought two packages feeling very lucky, because it is impossible to find mortadella or cappicola in my town. And to my chagrin I’ve never seen them again. My HEB carries foccacia, but doesn’t carry the bread boules or the Olive Salad, so I’m sure the meat was a mistake purchase, but Walmart carries the Olive salad, and often has bread boules, the clam chowder size ones.
So, this is a link to Emeril’s recipe (simple) for the sandwich. And this is another little bit more involved recipe I found in a recent search.
Beverages:
COFFEE AU LAIT
6 rounded tablespoons dark roast New Orleans coffee with chicory (Café Du Monde or Community Coffee)
6 cups water
6 cups milk
Brew your coffee in a drip coffeemaker and serve with half coffee and half scalded (not steamed!) milk.
Scald, do NOT boil, the milk. Pour coffee into warmed large mugs, then add the milk. If you like yours sweet, add two teaspoons of sugar to the cup. YIELD: 12 cups
Iced Tea
Make a gallon of sun tea using a family size tea bag (black and orange pekoe tea) and fresh, filtered, cool water. Set your glass container in the sun and let it brew until a rich brown color, about an hour or so on a hot summer day. Remove tea bag and chill in the refrigerator. I am a big fan of the cold brew tea bags! Just fill your container, add tea bags, and put in fridge. It brews in no time, is never cloudy, and tastes pretty darn close to the sun brewed.
In the south they love their tea sweet. It is easy to serve both sweet and unsweet by making a simple syrup that will dissolve quickly in iced liquids. You can make a quart of simple syrup by dissolving 5-6 cups of sugar in 3 cups of cold water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it’s dissolved and clear, cool and pour into a bottle with a lid. Store in the refrigerator – writing the date that you made it on the jar. If you notice it starts to turn cloudy or get moldy, toss it and make some fresh. Use for sweetening tea, coffee and cocktails. If you’re not going to use it right away, dilute it with 6 more cups of water and fill your hummingbird feeders.
Abita Amber beer
Cocktails:
SAZERAC
1 teaspoon of simple syrup (see recipe above) 3 – 4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters 2 ounces rye whiskey (most New Orleans bars use Old Overholt) ¼ teaspoon Herbsaint, a New Orleans brand of anise liqueur (You may use Pernod, or some other pastis or absinthe substitute) Strip of lemon peel
The traditional method: Pack a 3-1/2 ounce old-fashioned glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, moisten a sugar cube with just enough water to saturate it, then crush. Blend with the whiskey and bitters. Add a few cubes of ice and stir to chill. Discard the ice from the first glass and pour in the Herbsaint. Coat the inside of the entire glass, pouring out the excess. Strain the whiskey into the Herbsaint coated glass. Twist the lemon peel over the glass so that the lemon oil cascades into the drink, then rub the peel over the rim of the glass; do not put the twist in the drink).
HURRICANE(It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!)
1 ounces light rum
1 ounces dark rum (151 proof)
1.5 ounce orange juice
1.5 ounce fresh lime juice (NOT Rose’s or RealLime)
1/3 cup passion fruit juice or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon grenadine
Cherries with stems, and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes
In a cocktail shaker, mix the rum, passion fruit juice or syrup, the other juices and the sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the grenadine, and stir to combine, then add ice and shake. Half-fill a hurricane glass with ice, then strain drink into glass; add ice to fill. Garnish with orange slice and cherries.
Option: If you’d like something easier, look at your local liquor mart for packets of Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane Mix and follow directions.
Desserts:
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COLLEEN’S BANANAS FOSTER
This photo was taken at a cooking club gathering, by the host. We were joking that she was getting evidence photos to explain to her insurance agent how we burned her house down. Ha! This is not entirely the traditional way of making true Bananas Foster, because I am not a huge fan of mushy bananas, plus I like lots of sauce. I’ve made this a few times and this is the way I personally like it best. It’s sooooo easy, but your guests will oooo and ahhhh (or take fear photos) at your flame-boyant cooking panache. You’ll want to make this where your guests can see you.
INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup banana liqueur
½ cup of dark rum
4 bananas, cut in slices (I like mine still with a hint of green & no brown spots)
1 carton vanilla ice cream (1 large scoop per guest)
INSTRUCTIONS
Melt butter in a deep-sided skillet. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, and let cook until sugar is melted and sauce is bubbly. Slowly add banana liquor and gently stir until just warmed. Slowly add dark rum and gently stir until just warmed. Remove pan from heat and ignite with a long-stemmed BBQ lighter. Carefully stir with a long-handled spoon until flames subside. Place pan back on the stove with the burner off. Add the banana slices and gently toss with warm sauce (I don’t like mushy bananas, so that’s why I only add them at the end).
Place ice cream in serving dishes and top with several banana slices from the pan. Spoon warm sauce over ice cream and serve immediately.
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MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE
Ingredients
1 Oreo cookie pie crust
2 pints coffee ice cream, softened slightly
1/3 cup chocolate fudge topping
1 cup whipped cream
¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted
Directions: Spoon softened ice cream evenly into chilled crust. Drizzle fudge topping over ice cream then return pie to freezer for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, decorate with whipped cream and sprinkle with almonds. Makes one 9-inch pie.
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BEIGNETS
These are heavenly little donuts that go spectacularly with Coffee au lait. I recommend the cooking class recipe offered at Southern Living . My HEB carries the box mixes.
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KING CAKE
A King Cake is basically the same recipe as a giant cinnamon roll made into a “crown” shape (Monkey Bread in a Bundt pan would work fine), and the icing is covered in purple, yellow, and green colored sugar, and heaped on top. It is sometimes decorated with glitter sprinkles, mardi gras beads, or masks. Also, a tiny plastic baby is hidden in the dough before the cake is baked. When the cake is served at a Mardi Gras party, the guest who ends up with the baby in their serving must host the next soiree!
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~ DURING & AFTER DINNER ENTERTAINMENT ~
Background Music: Zydeco Stomp CD, or a New Orleans Jazz CD, some Hank Williams Jr., or a good Harry Connick Jr. album.
Play a game: Gambling is a big thing in New Orleans on the river boats. Decorate a room of your house to look like a Riverboat. Play card, dice, and domino games, or the game Wits & Wagers. Another game with a NOLA theme is Party Gras (which is a game played all night during other activities using Mardi gras beads – similar to the clothes pin game played at baby showers).
Watch a movie: Mark Twain – A Film Directed by Ken Burns (2002) would be a good choice for documentary watchers. Streetcar named Desire (an oldie). The Frog Prince (for families with kids). Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd, is set partially in New Orleans. Ghost Rider, with Nicholas Cage.
You could also use this meal as a great starter for a video Bible study (the one I am thinking of is Breaking Free, by Beth Moore, as it was filmed entirely on location in New Orleans, both the original and the revised versions, and is an excellent small-group Bible study) to get started in your home with your friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. After dinner you could play the introductory video, pass out the workbooks, and get it started.
~ A Reluctant Hostess’s Bag of Parlor Tricks for Social Occasions ~
Conversation Starters for the Table
Okay, the day of my party has arrived. The food is cooked. The table is set. My guests are beginning to arrive. I’ve shown each where to stash their coats and purses, and pointed them to the beverage station. I have a few things to finish up in the kitchen, but also want to warmly greet each person who arrives, never-the-less in my flushed and busy chaos I can’t forget what it feels like to be the guest. I’ve been a guest. I know very well the inevitable awkward little spaces of time when introverted people start to sweat a little. I know what it feels like to be out of my comfort zone. If I don’t know the host very well, or any of the other invited guests, it is easy for me to feel a little bit ruffled. I’m not sure where to sit or stand, or who to go and mingle with. I wonder if it would be rude to sit at the table, or okay to hang with the ladies in the kitchen.
Life is so much easier for Sanguines and extroverts. I appreciate having them in my life. I am honestly sooooo much better at coming up with ideas for parties: food, decorations, music, and games, than I am at the social aspects. It’s probably my biggest hurdle to being hospitable. I’m not so much worried about my house being clean enough, or putting on airs with a lot of nice things. It’s the social part that gives me a heart attack. I usually won’t go out on a limb to invite people over unless I know them really well (family), or I have an accomplice who is funny and outgoing, and with a real gift of gab. Without my security blanket I’m pretty much a basket case.
This is where a nice set of Conversation cards really comes in handy for those awkward lulls during dinner when I can’t think of anything to talk about, and God forbid am surrounded also by introverts. They rescue me. Conversation is what draws us all out of our shells and helps us all to get comfortable with each other, and engaged – as long as we’re not put on the spot in front of everybody.
Sometimes, it’s hard to share our most personal thoughts, ideas, and opinions (unless we know where those around us stand), or without a glass of wine to loosen us up first – ha!, so a set of conversation cards can be a good way to get things going. There are a ton of sets out there (Amazon). Food for Talk by Julienne Smith is one of my favorites.
I have found that the best way to get past being uncomfortable and vulnerable in conversations with new people is by practicing treating them the way I want to be treated, and in my limited experience I have found that sometimes when I took that leap of faith and shared my heart with someone, it actually, occasionally landed in safe hands, and it very often was the catalyst to a beautiful friendship.
I have worked pretty hard to be a safe place for other people’s conversations as well. Gossips are not good friends! Experience has taught me, that it is okay to be observant, cautious, and protective. It is like looking both ways before crossing a road. But when it looks as if the coast is clear, I encourage you (and deal a pep talk to myself as well) to try putting just a little of ourselves out there. And in return, also be a “safe place” for other people’s thoughts and dreams and ideas.
Another thing I struggle with is ADD. When my mind is racing with self-conciousness, it is hard to pay attention, but we all appreciate a good listener. Weep with those that weep. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
I will pray for you, and for myself as well, that we learn to relax and just have fun. And I pray that our minds don’t batter us too badly later as we lay in bed replaying every careless word we spoke and every clumsy gesture. Please say I’m not the only one who does this! Well, if I have a witness, at least you know you are not alone.
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“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
While the rest of my fellow “gringos” are having “Ugly Sweater” parties, Cookie Exchanges, and Gift Wrapping/Mulled-Wine drinking parties for Christmas wouldn’t it be fun to host a TAMALADA just to be different?
I recently tried my hand at making Tamales, and to my delight they turned out, and were actually delicious (thank God), but boy howdy were they a ton of work. Took me ALL DAY! I’m absolutely addicted to tamales at Christmas, but I’m thinking if I ever decide to make them again I will want to make a party out of it, because many hands make light work. So here’s what I’m thinking…
Who to invite? Hmmm, well they’ll need to be reliable guests, who promise to make their dish and show up for the assembly process.
I could send them each a recipe card, after they RSVP and volunteer for a portion of the tamale-making they want to do. The host (which will be me, if I manage to muster the courage to actually do this) will provide snacks, and beverages – I’m thinking some fun drink choices would be Sangria; a Hot-Mexican-Chocolate Bar; Horchata Smoothies; and blended Margaritas. I’ll need to remember to find a good Latino Christmas Album or two or three to play for ambiance during the party, and also dig out an entertaining game to go with the party, that we can play while we’re waiting for the first batch of tamales to come out of the steamers. A couple of my favorites are Mexican Train (dominoes) and Canasta (cards)!
Or, if my family/friends want to bring their Christmas cards, stamps, address labels, and stationery we could get our Christmas cards ready to mail out while we wait for tamales, and we can snack and visit while we write and fold and lick and stamp! Make it kind of a working Tamale party! I can offer this on the invitations, and then discuss it with everybody when they RSVP.
Here’s how I’m thinking we can split up the cooking…
Guests #1, 2, & 3 could each make a 3-lb pork roast (half of the recipe listed below) and shred it, discarding any bone or cartilage, and reserving and bringing the strained pork broth to the party.
Printable Recipe Card
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Guest #4 could make the Chili sauce up to the point of adding the broth and blending it, and bring the cooked chilies with them to the party.
Printable Recipe Card
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HOST: could prepare corn husks
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Guest #5 could make the Masa, up to the point of adding the broth and mixing, and bring it to the party
So, I know from experience that it’s going to take at least 4 hours to make the finishing touches on the meat and masa, then assemble, and steam the tamales. So I’ll plan my party accordingly when filling out the details on the invitation. Maybe I should have it on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon?
Once my guests have RSVP’d and volunteered for the dish they want to make, I’ll send them out the recipe card for their items (shown above, in case you missed them).
Buy whatever groceries and beverages I’ll need and give myself time to prepare them before the party.
Set up a station for the final masa preparation. I will need counter space, a large bowl, a mixer, and a cup of warm water to test the masa in.
Set up a work station for the final preparation of the red sauce. I will need a large sauce pot for the stove, and a blender or food processor. Someone will be making a roux in the sauce pot, and another person will be blending the red sauce (softened chilies and broth from pork). The pork and the red sauce will be added to the roux.
I’ll set up a large table for assembly. Place the ingredients down the center of my table, the husks next to the masa, the masa next to the meat, and finally a cookie sheet at the end to pile the tamales on. I’ll put a person at each ingredient and we’ll pass each tamal along. They’ll go together pretty quick. I will need some clean kitchen towels and possibly a roll of paper towels, also a masa spreader or spatula, a spoon to measure the masa, a spoon to measure the meat, and a large cookie sheet. And afterward some tin foil to wrap the tamales in for sending home or freezing.
Make room in my refrigerator for whatever uncooked tamales, and whatever else needs refrigerated.
Set up the steamer pots (illustrated below). I will need two large canner size pots with lids and a steamer basket for each inside. I will also need two clean kitchen towels and water for those.
Set up a beverage station with various beverages as mentioned earlier. I can set up a hot cocoa bar, I can also set out a large thermos of blended Margaritas, and a pitcher of Sangria. I might also want to set out some iced tea and water and a cooler of ice, and a variety of glasses and mugs.
Set up an appetizer/snack table where guests can nibble as we wait for the tamales to cook. Decide what appetizers I will serve at my party, and have them ready when guests arrive. I will need serving plates, bowls, spoons, etc. I might want to have a pretty tablecloth for this table, and some festive table decorations.
Set up the music that I will have playing in the background of my party.
Set out a couple of game choices (mentioned earlier), so that once the tamales are all assembled, and the table has been cleared, we can start having some fun. Or if we all prefer doing Christmas cards, I will need to *be sure to note this in my party reminder call, so my guests will know to bring their supplies!
Of course I’ll want a clean house, a spotless kitchen, and a tidy bathroom at least. Ugh! Sometimes this keeps me from throwing parties! My house is truly never clean enough. Oh suck it up girl, get to scrubbin’ it’s gonna be fun!!!!!!!!!
A day or two before the party I can send a reminder via Text/eMail/Phonecall, so my guests will know if we’ll be doing Christmas cards during the party, or just playing games and eating. They might need the prodding for the dish they are making too!
Day of the party designate various ASSEMBLY LINE jobs:
Someone to wash all the dirty dishes and clean counters (my least fav job)
Someone to make the roux, and mix the meat with the sauce
Someone to finish making the red sauce
Someone to finish making the masa
Assembly line Husk Person, who will dry and pass the husks
Assembly line Masa Spreader person
Assembly line Meat person, who will also wrap tamales
Tamale tie person, who will tear off strips of husk to tie around tamales and stack them on a cookie sheet
And finally someone to set up and load steamers, and babysit them with water
Full RECIPES
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Pork for Tamales
2 3-lb pkgs Pork Carnitas or a shoulder roast
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, broken in pieces
3 jalapenos, chopped
1 Tbsp salt
Enough water to cover
DO AT HOME: Place pork roast, onion, garlic, and salt in a large pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer over medium heat until pork is very tender, about 3 hours. Remove pork from water and shred. Store in a Ziploc bag and keep in refrigerator for up to a day, until ready to use. Strain liquid and reserve for use in making the red sauce and the masa. Place in sealed jars in refrigerator for up to a day. Skim the fat off the broth and place it in a separate ziploc bag to use for the roux. Bring the pork, broth, and skimmed fat to the party.
DO AT THE PARTY: Once at the party someone will need to make a roux (see recipe below) and then the pulled pork can be combined with the roux and the red sauce.
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Red Sauce
4 ounces California (or Cascavel) chile pods, seeds and stems removed
4 ounces New Mexico chile pods, seeds and stems removed
1 1/4 cup reserved pork broth
1 1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp salt
3 cloves garlic, broken in pieces
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin seeds
DO AT HOME: Toast chilies in a hot skillet over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Rinse chile pods. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add rinsed chile pods and cook until chile pods are softened, about 15 minutes. Drain water off chilies and discard the water. Add salt, garlic, and ground cumin. Seal in a plastic bag until ready to blend at the party. This can be done up to a day ahead.
DO AT THE PARTY: Pour chilies, broth, and water into a blender and blend until smooth. Place in large kettle until ready to mix with the pork.
Roux: Someone will need to make a roux using ½ cup lard, reserved from roast, and ½ cup flour. Cook on the stove, stirring continually until peanut butter colored. Toss in the pork and red sauce and mix well. I also like to chop another jalapeno or two to add to the meat. Cover and refrigerate, or if near to being ready to assemble, place on the assembly line.
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Masa
2 pounds Manteca lard, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder, divided
2 tablespoons salt, divided
5 pounds ground masa harina, divided
2 to 3 cups broth reserved from cooked pork roast (or chicken broth), divided
½ bunch Cilantro, finely minced
Small white onion, very finely minced
½ cup Tomatillo Salsa, or Salsa Verde
Reserved pork broth with skimmed fat
DO AT HOME: Place 1 pound of lard in a KitchenAid® Stand Mixer and mix until fluffy, scraping sides so the lard stays in the center of the mixing bowl. (The flat beater is the ideal accessory for mixing.) Add half the baking powder and half the salt to the lard and mix together. Add half the masa harina and mix together. Seal in a ziploc bag in the fridge.
Now do the other half of the same ingredients, and store in the fridge in a ziploc bag for up to a day. Please bring to room temp before bringing to the party.
DO AT THE PARTY: Place one room temperature batch of the masa in a large bowl. Slowly add half the broth, half the onion and cilantro, and half the salsa verde, to and mix until combined. The mixture should be about the consistency of smooth peanut butter. If not, add more broth as necessary. Test the masa by taking a small piece (1/2 teaspoon) and dropping it into a cup of warm water. If it floats it is ready; if it sinks, add a little more lard, beat for another minute and test it again. Repeat this process until the masa floats. Cover and set on the assembly table.
Repeat the process with the remaining batch of masa.
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Corn Husks
DO AT HOME: Take husks from package and rinse well in the sink, removing any silks or debris. Fill a large stock pot with water and press the clean husks down to submerge them. Bring water to a boil and soak husks in gently boiling water for about 1 hour. You may need to flip the stack occasionally so the top ones get pliable. Drain water from husks but keep husks in the kettle with the lid on.
DO AT THE PARTY: Set warm, soaked husks, in covered pot on the assembly table. Keep a clean kitchen towel nearby to dry the husks just before spreading them with masa, otherwise the masa won’t stick.
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ASSEMBLY LINE
Place the husks, masa, meat, and cookie sheet down the center of a table, and seat my guests all around it, except the guest who volunteered to do the mountain of dirty dishes. Assembly will start with corn husks being dried off and passed to the masa person next to them, that person will spread it with masa and pass it to the meat person next to them; that person will top it with meat and wrap it and hand it across to the tie person; that person will tear off a little strip from a boiled husk and use it to tie around the tamal and lay on the cookie sheet. Once the cookie sheet is full and heaping, the last person (ME) will pack the tamales vertically in the steamer with the open end up and start them steaming.
SPREADING THE MASA: Place the wide end of the husk on the palm of your hand (or on the flat work surface), narrow end is at the top. Starting at the middle of the husk spread 2 tablespoons of the masa with a spatula or masa spreader in a rectangle shape, using a downward motion towards the wide-bottom edge. Do not spread the masa to the ends; leave about a 2-inch border on the left and right sides of the husk. Pass to the person with the meat (or other) filling. There is too wide of a swath of masa on this husk shown below, and also it’s not quite thick enough. You only need enough masa to wrap around the meat and a little extra to hold the husk closed.
ADDING THE MEAT: Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of your chosen filling down the center of the masa. (When I ran out of meat filling and still had masa, I started making Pepper Jack Cheese and Jalapeno filling. Fold both sides of hust to the center over the top of the meat; finish off by bringing the pointed end of the husk toward the filled end. Pass tamale to the person who will tie the tamales closed.
TAMALE TIE PERSON: Make sure each tamal is snuggly closed and will not open during steaming. You can secure by tying a thin strip of corn husk around each tamal. This will keep the tamal from unwrapping during the steaming process, especially if the husk is too thick and will not stay folded. Stack wrapped tamales on a cookie sheet.
HOST: Prepare the steamer pots… (You will also load the steamer pots)
Steamer Pot
This is my tamale steamer. I can only fill water up to the little rack, but not above it, and start it simmering on the stove. The steamer pot needs to be tall enough for our tamales to sit up vertically above the water and still fit the lid on. (If you don’t have a double boiler, you can improvise like I have. All mine is, is a round cooling rack setting on top of a brick, which I’ve washed several times in the dishwasher, or I could also use a small colander placed down into the bottom of my soup kettle and my rack on top. This set up works perfectly. Each steamer will need to have a clean kitchen towel and a lid.
When a cookie sheet of tamales is piled up high, they can be loaded in the steamer…
Fill the top part of the steamer with tamales. Stand the tamales up vertically, open ends up and folded ends at the bottom, and make sure the folded part is either tied up, or held in place with another tamal. Pack the tamales snug enough so that they won’t fall over during cooking, but not so tight that the steam can’t get in around them. In other words, don’t cram and squish them as tight as they will go, but let there be too much space or they will collapse and mush over. If there are not enough tamales to fill the steamer, use canning jars to take up the spaces so the tamales don’t fall over.
Turn heat up on the water until it boils. Cover the tamales with a clean kitchen towel and then the lid of the pot. Turn the heat down to medium so that it stays gently boiling, but not raging boiling. Set timer for 2 hours. Check every 20 to 30 minutes or so to make sure the water is not boiling dry, and add boiling water as necessary. Make sure the tamales are above the water line and that the bottoms are not siting in water at all.
Tamales will need to steam for 2 hours or more. After 2 hours we can test for doneness. Remove one tamale and check if the masa holds together and slips easily off the husk. If so, it is done, if not it needs to steam some more. Check again in 15 minutes when I check the water level.
When a batch of tamales is done they can be eaten right away, or wrapped in foil (1 dozen at a time) and refrigerated or frozen for later.
Divide the wrapped dozens of tamales among the guests. There should be about 1-2 dozen per guest.
You will want to eat some at the party!!!! There are lots of ways to eat tamales. Some like them topped with just a little of the red sauce, which you can make another batch of while the tamales are steaming. I like mine all different ways. Straight out of the steamer and burning my fingers and tongue as I shove them into my mouth, or if I have all the toppings on hand for Tortilla Soup or Carnitas tacos, I like all of those (minus the tortilla strips) on top of my tamales. I also like them with salsa verde, chopped onions, cilantro, and jalapenos, and a little dallop of sour cream (as pictured below). And I also like them loaded up with red sauce, pepper-jack cheese, black olives, corn and black bean salsa, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo. There is just about no wrong way to eat a tamale.
So there you have it. Sound like fun to you? I’m pretty sure all my Mexican friends reading this are laughing at my gringo-ness; all having hosted and attended a hundred Tamaladas, so hopefully one of you will take pity on me and invite me to your next one, to show me how it’s done! My hat’s off to whoever invented tamales, for passing on this wonderful food, and to my friends south of the border for keeping going this fun tradition. Feliz Navidad!
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“The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine.” Isaiah 25:6
I did this as a Christmas craft with the students at my granddaughter’s school (pre-K through 8th grade). We had all just recently experienced snow in our town, a RARE and exciting event in south Texas, so this craft commemorated that very memorable event with a little keepsake. I also wrote a poem to go with our keepsake craft, so they could be kept forever in a memory book, if anyone wanted.
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You might like to do this craft with your kids during the Christmas break from school. Here is an idea of something you could do with the snowflakes (besides just hang them in your tree).
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“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
In case you missed this recipe, featured recently in A Native Thanksgiving, here’s a re-run of it all by itself, because it is just too delicious to miss.
There are several ways to make the fry bread. My grandmother used her homemade yeast bread recipe and then divided it into dinner roll size pieces. She pulled those into little robe shapes and gave them a little twist before frying. She called it “Squaw Bread” and I could have honestly eaten the whole stinking batch every time she made it. Nothing better than hot fried bread, unless of course it is hot fried bread rolled in cinnamon and sugar, which she also sometimes did.
You can save yourself a lot of work by just using Rhodes Yeast Rolls that come frozen in the grocery store. Thaw them and then fry them. It’s that easy!
The Native way is also very easy and delicious. This is the recipe:
FRYBREAD
This recipe makes 7-8 small ones
Ingredients
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
Deep hot fat in fry pan or fryer
Directions:
Sift dry ingredients. Stir in milk. Kneed and work the dough on a floured board with floured hands until smooth. Divide the dough into eight pieces and shape into flat disk shapes, with a depression in the center. Fry in deep fat (about 375°) until golden and done on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper.
INDIAN FRYBREAD TACOS
6 servings
Frybread tacos are very much like the Elephant Ear tacos that we used to get at the carnival when the rodeo was in town. Very easy and one of my favorite things to eat. If I have leftover homemade chili I use it in place of the meat recipe here. And when I can’t find Anasazi beans, and I’m in a hurry, I just substitute canned pintos.
Ingredients
6 pieces Indian Frybread — about 6” in diameter
For Chili:
1 lb hamburger
1 big can tomatoes (I used Rotel)
2 Tbsp homemade chile powder (or your favorite packet of Chili seasoning)
salt, pepper to taste
Fry hamburger broken up loose until cooked, then drain fat. Sprinkle some salt and chile powder over it (or use a Chili seasoning packet). Add tomatoes and their juice — break up tomatoes and stir it around. Simmer till meat tender and sauce is thick, 30 – 40 minutes.
Toppings:
1/2 lb cheese grated coarse (Colby/Jack)
1 1/2 c Dried anasazi beans, cooked
1 1/2 c Mache or arugula, washed & stemmed (I substitute Cilantro, chopped)
1 pkg sweet cherry tomatoes, sliced
2 ea Ripe avocados, halved & sliced
1 sm red onion, thinly sliced and diced
1 bunch red radishes, sliced
1 container Golden yellow cherry tomatoes diced
3 ea Green Anaheim (New Mexico) chiles, prepared (I’ve sometimes substituted Poblanos when Anaheims are out of season or unavailable)
1 lg Red bell pepper
Directions:
To prepare the anasazi beans, soak overnight in water to cover. The next day, drain the beans and place them in a saucepan with fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let the beans simmer until the skins break, about 3 hours. It may be necessary to add water as the beans cook to prevent them from burning and sticking. After the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside. You should have about 3 cups cooked beans.
While the beans are cooking, roast, seed, and de-vein the chiles and the bell pepper, and chop each of the veggies. I usually do this early in the day, place each in a ziploc sandwich baggie, and store together in the fridge until I’m ready to serve.
Prepare the Native recipe fry bread while the meat (chili) is cooking.
To Assemble the tacos, place 1/2 cup cooked beans on each piece of frybread, then a layer of meat mixture, then your choice of the vegetables (I like all of them). Finish with a little Mexican Crema (sour cream), some bottled hot sauce (salsa) on top, and finally a little sprinkle of cheese.
You’ll need a fork and knife to eat this marvelous creation!
It’s funny, the seasons of life, how things have a way of making it around full circle to the exact same place where they started. For instance, we start off life as little pudgy babies, unable to talk, unable to walk, getting shots, getting sick, wearing diapers, being told what to do, and existing on a mostly liquid diet; and for all the progress we make in our lifetime, we end up right back where we started, in diapers, drinking Ensure, eating mushy stuff, taking meds, being told what to do, and wheeled around wherever we have to go.
It’s similar in a marriage. First I learned to cook for two, and then to prepare meals for a whole family, and now here we are back at just two again. I’m finding it a bit of a challenge to learn to scale things back so I don’t waste food, or blow the budget, trying to keep it healthy, but still tasting good! I don’t want to feed us Lean Cuisines, or fast food, or frozen pizza every meal, but at the same time, I don’t have the energy or ambition to stand on my feet for hours chopping, measuring, peeling, blanching, boiling, broiling, and then washing, wiping, scouring, scrubbing, and putting back together a totally destroyed kitchen…everyday….for just the two of us. <sigh>
So I find myself making things like quesadillas out of leftover fill-in-the-blank meat, cheese, and hot peppers; or fish tacos from doggie bag catfish gotten at a local restaurant the night before and some sort of cabbage slaw; or crispy fried SPAM-L-T’s (because I usually have Spam in the pantry and I don’t always have bacon) with a side of raw veggies (because that is healthier than chips, but a lot of times, honestly, it is chips); or this wonderful biscuits and gravy meal I recently came up with. It’s super easy if you roast your chilies one day, toss them in a bag and into the fridge, and then peel and seed them the next day.
I’m sharing it because Husband said this is the best gravy he’s ever had, and at 61 I guess that’s saying something. However, it could be that he has just totally forgotten what the best gravy was he had before this. Which is kind of a perk, the memory loss thing, it can really work to an old lady’s advantage sometimes! Ha! But I did also feed it to my daughter, the sweet young thing with a chipper young mind, and she concurred, so there you go, for what that’s worth.
Anyway, this gravy isn’t just good on biscuits. It would be fantastic on Chicken Fried Steak, pepper steak, mashed potatoes, as a dip for Waffle Fries, Chicken strips, or even just toast, if that’s all you have. I fried up some bacon (in the oven) and chopped up a couple dozen fresh okra from my garden, along with a cold, leftover baked potato, coated the pieces in cornmeal and then fried them in oil, as sides to our supper. Perhaps this sounds like “jail food” to you? Well, wait until you’re my age honey. You’ll be a LOT less picky. Hubby and I thought it was GOOD EATS!!!!
Creamy Poblano Gravy
¾ of a stick of butter
2 TBSP bacon drippings
¾ cup flour
¼ tsp Salt Lick dry rub seasoning (which is basically cayenne powder and black pepper)
Melt butter in frying pan, add bacon fat, flour, and seasoning. Stir to combine, then cook, stirring continuously, over medium high heat for a few minutes. To this rue add:
1 tsp. chopped jalapeno or serrano (or both if you like it spicy)
2 roasted, peeled, and seeded Poblano Peppers, chopped
4 cups of whole milk, or Half-and-Half
Water (as desired)
Stir until thick and bubbly. Add water to thin the gravy to your desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste.
Originally featured in my book, Come for Supper, the memoirs of a reluctant hostess, this is one of my very favorite meals. Not because it is top shelf gourmet, for in fact it is probably closer to just being sustenance on that scale; mostly made with government commodities, or what can be scavenged in the wild, using few and extremely inexpensive ingredients. Not to say these aren’t all very yummy dishes though, don’t be scared, just probably not cheffy food, if that’s what you were looking for. The beauty of this meal for me is in savoring the foods of another people. Cultural differences can sometimes separate us, but I am enchanted by the brotherhood of the table and the fellowship of food. Eating modest foods also makes me very thankful for the things that I have, and the extravagant meals I have been blessed to enjoy. In a world where some have the luxury of living-to-eat, this is a great reminder that many many people on this planet eat-to-live, and even with the little that they have, are incredibly generous.
I am drawn to and have a deep affection for the American Indians. I think we all do. Most of us played cowboys and Indians when we were kids. Many of our grandparents told tall tales about having native blood in our lineage. It is the raw deal, and unfair treatment of our native people by our government, that gives us (me, at least) a huge mistrust of the federal government. And although they’ve been tucked away, they have never been forgotten. We admire their courage and bravery, so much so that many of our sports teams have been given names like, “Chiefs” “Braves” “Redskins” and “Indians.” Many towns (and counties) in my native state have Indian names: Sundance, Shoshoni, Meeteetse, Ten Sleep, Crowheart, Chugwater, Arapahoe, Wapiti, Cheyenne, Osage, etc. Movies like Dances With Wolves, Son of the Morning, and Windtalkers reinforce the love affair. Even so, how many of us truly know our native brethren? Or, know anything about what their life is like today (myself included)? Most likely the closest we ever come is visiting a local gambling casino, or reading about some misfortune in the newspaper. By bringing us to a table to celebrate some of their best dishes, I hope to change that a little. This is an interesting articlethat I really wanted to save for myself, and share with you, as we consider honoring these interesting people with a Native fall feast for our family and friends.
1 lb Commodity flour (about 3 cups of all-purpose flour)
Powdered milk and water to equal about 2/3 cup liquid
1 Tbsp Vegetable shortening
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt
Directions:
Mix all ingredients except powdered milk together. Add milk to other ingredients to form a dough and beat it up. If the dough is too sticky to roll out, add a little more flour. Roll it very thin on a flour dusted cutting surface, cut it into pieces with a pizza cutter, lay the pieces on a parchment lined cookie sheet, prick each piece with a fork, and bake it quickly in a 350 degree oven until toasted golden. Try these crackers the traditional way first, but the next time you make them you might wish to substitute fresh whole milk for the powdered milk, 2 Tbsp butter for the shortening and a splash of olive oil, and perhaps sprinkle the dough with a mixture of seeds, or some parmesan cheese, or some finely chopped italian herbs before cutting and baking. These are also nice served with an assortment of cheeses.
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THREE SISTERS SOUP (the 3 sisters are beans, corn, and squash)
Ingredients
1 lb beef stew meat
8 cups water
3 spring onions with tops
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can kidney beans and liquid
Half gallon size bag of fresh green beans, sliced (may substitute frozen or canned)
3 ears fresh corn (may substitute frozen or canned)
3 summer squash, cubed
½ tsp oregano (or 3 mint leaves)
2 tsp salt
5 lg squash blossoms
Black Pepper
Directions:
Cook the stew meat in water until tender. Cut corn from cob, chop spring onions, and add all vegetables to water and simmer until tender. Add seasonings, and squash blossoms; simmer 15 minutes. (For vegetarian version omit meat).
This is a mostly authentic recipe, and doesn’t have much flavor, especially if canned vegetables are used, which are most likely. The next time you make it you will want to use beef broth in place of the water, and leftover beef roast, pulled apart. I always prefer fresh vegetables. I also added 1 packet of beef gravy mix and 1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix to my pot. I also added a small can of Rotel Tomatoes, 1 large potato diced, 1 large carrot chopped, a handful of frozen peas, 2 tsp. minced garlic, to the other vegetables, and about a ¼ tsp. of Cayenne powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Delish!
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WILD GREENS AND FLOWERS SALAD
Serves 4 to 6
Salads were much liked in the spring when new, tender greens appeared. A great variety of mixtures was used. Since salt was uncommon or not used at all, salads were flavored by herbs, oil pressed from seeds, and especially with vinegar made from fermented, evaporated, uncooked maple sap (which we can’t make or get). So this is an approximation of the spring tonic salads beloved by all woodland people after the long winters.
Ingredients
1 cup watercress leaves and (only) tender stems
1 cup lamb’s ears, quarter new leaves (or use small spinach leaves)
1 cup arugula lettuce torn (not cut) to bite-size pieces;
can also use Bibb or less expensive leafy (not iceberg) lettuces
1 cup Dandelion leaves
1/2 cup tender nasturtium and violet leaves torn up
1/2 cup nasturtium and violet flowers (in season)
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup salad oil
As much tender mint leaves as you like in the salad
2 tsp fresh mint chopped fine and bruised
2 tsp chopped tarragon (fresh) or 1 tsp dried if necessary
optional: salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Combine honey and vinegar, whisk in oil and crushed mint. Season to taste with small amount of salt. Pour over greens and flowers in large bowl, and toss for about 3 minutes to coat everything with dressing. Serve immediately.
If you cannot find the greens and flowers listed, you can use a “spring mix” salad from the produce department and add to that whatever edible flowers and greens that you can find, perhaps look at your local garden center, nursery, or fresh herb store.
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SQUASH OR PUMPKIN BLOSSOM FRITTERS (Pueblo style)
serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
2 dozen large squash blossoms
(4 dozen of the smaller pumpkin blossoms)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin powder
2 – 3 cups finely ground cornmeal (masa harina)
Oil for deep frying
Directions:
If you’re a gardener or truck farmer, you can make this dish easy; otherwise you’ll need to visit with a farmer at a Farmer’s Market about getting some blossoms. During the growing season farmers thin the blossoms of their vines, because the vine can’t support but only a couple of pumpkins or a few squash. At season’s end there will be an abundance of flowers, as the fruit will not have time to finish before winter.
Rinse and pat blossoms dry. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs with milk, chili, salt, and cumin. Dip blossoms in egg mix, and then roll gentle in cornmeal. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to set coating. Heat 2 inches of oil in a deep saucepan to about 375°, hot but not smoking. Fry blossoms a few at a time until golden, drain on paper towels. Keep warm in 250° oven until ready to serve.
Only in the southwest are the blossoms of squash and pumpkin important as a religious symbol, as well as food. They appear as sacred symbols in many Pueblo ceremonies, and gave rise to a popular design worked in silver.
There is a Hopi Squash Kachina (Patung). He is Chief Kachina (wuya) for the Hopi Pumpkin Clan. He runs with men of a village in spring ceremonial dances to attract rain clouds.
The Hopis and Pueblo farmers gather large quantities of squash and pumpkin flowers at the end of the growing season, when these flowers cannot make fruit; that’s the time white farmers harvest their curcurbitae and pull up or plow under the still-flowering vines.
OR, you may like to try this stuffed blossom recipe….
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STUFFED SQUASH BLOSSOMS
Ingredients
2 doz. squash blossoms
Filling:
8 oz. block cream cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 Tbsp chopped green onion
Batter:
1½ c. flour
½ tsp salt
¾ to 1 cup dry white wine
cooking oil for frying
Directions:
The authentic way is not to stuff the blossoms, but simply to batter and fry them, or just fry them naked in melted shortening. This is a recipe I stumbled across recently and enjoyed. Pick large squash blossoms in early morning just before they open. (I used my garden zucchini blossoms that had opened already and they turned out okay). Heat 1-2” oil in heavy Dutch oven. Meanwhile, stuff blossoms with a tablespoon of filling. Smooth peddles over filling, and make batter. When oil is ready (pops and crackles when a drop of water is added), drop each blossom into batter, turning to coat evenly, and then immediately into hot oil. Turn while frying to cook evenly on all sides, and remove with a slotted spoon when they have turned golden-brown. Drain on paper towels, and serve hot as an accompaniment for soup. Or, they also make a great appetizer with a spicy marinara sauce to dip them in.
FRYBREAD
This recipe makes 8-10 small ones or 5 big flat ones
Ingredients
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
Deep hot fat in fry pan or fryer
Directions:
Sift dry ingredients. Lightly stir in milk. Add more flour as necessary to make a dough you can handle. Kneed and work the dough on a floured board with floured hands until smooth. Pinch off fist-sized lumps and shape into slightly twisted ropes — everyone has their own characteristic shapes.(Shape affects the taste, by the way because of how it fries). For Indian tacos, shape dough into a rather flat disk shape, with a depression — almost a hole — in the center of both sides. Make it that way if the fry bread is going to have some sauce over it. Smaller, round ones are made to put on a plate. Fry in deep fat (about 375°) until golden and done on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper. (My grandmother made what she called, “Squaw Bread” at least once a month when I was growing up. Her’s was made from regular yeast dough. It was one of my favorite things on earth!!!!)
MODERN WOJAPE
Wojape (Wo-zha-pee), a pudding, a dessert. Wojape is traditional to the Sioux and other Northern Plains Nations and predates most of us living now. This is a berry pudding to eat with fry bread. It was made with fresh wild berries collected during that season and also dried berries, preserved for use through the winter. The berries were mixed with sugar when it became available, and also flour for thickener. Today is a different time and Wojape, like many other things, has adapted to the easy access of ingredients. However, it is just as delicious. It can be eaten after a meal as a dessert or as many “out there” know, as a main course maybe with a hot cup of coffee. She calls it modern because of using any kind of frozen berries, “We moderns often use government commodities gallon cans.” This recipe makes enough for about 20-30 people who have 1-2 fry breads.
Many thanks for this recipe go to: Ms. Stacy Winter of Crow Creek, Rapid City, South Dakota.
Ingredients
1 Bag (5 lb) frozen berries (blueberry, raspberry, cherry or a mix)
8 cup Water
2 cup Sugar
Cornstarch or Arrowroot
Directions:
To a 5 quart pot (enamel or stainless steel) add all the berries and smash them with a potato masher. (If you are fortunate enough to have a food processor this would work fine also. However, stop just short of puree, you want fine pieces throughout.) To the smashed berries add the water and sugar. Boil (lightly) this mixture (Approximately 15 to 20 minutes) until everything is cooked. Thicken to desired thickness with cornstarch that has been dissolved in cold water. Serve warm and eat with Indian Fry Bread. Dip the bread into the Wojape and eat in this manner.
Wojape is also outstanding on French Toast, Pancakes, plain Cheesecake, over ice cream, and is excellent served over Angel Food Cake with a dallop of whipped cream.
INDIAN FRYBREAD TACOS
6 servings
Frybread tacos are very much like the Elephant Ear tacos that we used to get at the carnival when the rodeo was in town. Very easy and one of my favorite things to eat. If I have leftover homemade chili I use it in place of the meat recipe here. And when I can’t find Anasazi beans, and I’m in a hurry, I just substitute canned pintos.
Ingredients
6 pieces Indian Frybread — about 6” in diameter
1 lb hamburger
1 large onion minced
2 small cans tomato paste
1 big can tomatoes
1/2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp chile powder
salt, pepper to taste
Fry onion and hamburger broken up loose. Sprinkle some salt and chile powder over it. Add tomato paste and 4 cans of water and the canned tomatoes and their juice — break up tomatoes and stir it around. Add basil and oregano. Taste for seasoning. If you want, you can use a taco seasoning packet in place of seasonings, and a mild tomato salsa in place of tomato paste and tomatoes. Simmer till meat and onions are done and sauce is thick, 30 – 40 minutes.
Toppings:
1/2 lb cheese grated coarse
1 1/2 c Dried anasazi beans, cooked
1 1/2 c Mache or arugula, washed & stemmed (I’ve often substituted Cilantro, chopped)
1 lg Red ripe tomato, sliced
2 ea Ripe avocados, halved & sliced
1 ea Red onion, thinly sliced
1 ea Bunch red radishes, sliced
24 ea Golden yellow plum tomatoes halved
6 ea Green Anaheim (New Mexico) chiles, prepared (I’ve sometimes substituted Poblanos when Anaheims are out of season or unavailable)
1 lg Red bell pepper
Directions:
To prepare the anasazi beans, soak overnight in water to cover. The next day, drain the beans and place them in a saucepan with fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let the beans simmer until the skins break, about 3 hours. It may be necessary to add water as the beans cook to prevent them from burning and sticking. After the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside. You should have about 3 cups cooked beans. While the beans are cooking, roast, seed, and de-vein the chiles and the bell pepper. Leave chiles whole; slice pepper lengthwise into six strips.
To Assemble the tacos, place a layer of meat mixture, cheese, and 1/2 cup cooked beans on each piece of frybread. Add 1/4 cup greens per taco, followed by a red tomato slice. Add slices avocado and 1 thin slice red onion, separated into rings. Follow with radishes and 4 golden yellow plum tomatoes per taco, and top with 1 roasted green chile and 2 slices roasted red pepper. You can vary the toppings and the order in which the taco is built, and for a vegetarian version omit the meat sauce and cheese.
You may also wish to offer Sour Cream (I like the Mexican Crema) and salsa (favorite jarred, or refrigerated varieties).
NAPOLIAS (Cactus)
Ingredients
1 servings
1 lb Pork
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 lg Onion, diced
3 c Water
2 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 lg can stewed tomatoes
1 lb Green cactus, peeled & diced
Salt
Pepper
1/4 t. Cumin
Seasoning salt
Directions:
Cube the pork; fry in a skillet with onion and garlic. In a large Dutch oven, add all ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and 1/4 tsp. cumin and seasoned salt. Cook until meat is tender. You might like to season this with an assortment of dried ground up chili peppers, like New Mexico red chilies, green chilies, chipotle chilies, and little chili pequine, to make it like a Chili Colorado. Very good with corn cakes, or the pinion squash bread featured below!
Cactus (fresh, small, thick pads): Remove spines with knife and peel, or purchase at market in a jar, diced and packed in its own juices. You can usually find it at Mexican markets; the cactus referred to is generally prickly-pear cactus. The juice from the prickly pear cactus is also useful in Native American craftwork, specifically painting with earth paints.
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PUEBLO PUMPKIN/SQUASH PIÑON NUT SWEETBREAD
Makes One loaf, serves 6 – 8
Rio Grande Pueblo peoples traditionally served a variant of this sweetbread to parties of nut-pickers in September when piñon nuts were being picked from the mountain slope trees. Families would (and some still do) camp for many weeks in traditional areas reserved to clans. In the recipe you can use either cooking-type pumpkin (these have necks and thick, meaty bodies, not like jack o’ lantern pumpkins) or a sweet bright orange squash, like butternut.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup finely mashed or pureed pumpkin/squash
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
2 eggs beaten foamy
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup pine nuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, spices. Stir in pumpkin, eggs, butter. Stir pine nuts into thick batter. Scrape into a greased 6 x 9 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until knife inserted in bread comes out clean.
This sweetish, spicy bread goes well with soups, stews, and can also be a dessert, especially if you cut it apart and put yogurt or applesauce over it.
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OR, this is a sweeter, less cinnamony version that lets the pumpkin shine through…
PUMPKIN PINE-NUT BREAD
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
2 c Flour
1/2 c Oil
3 Eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c Sugar
1 teaspoons Baking soda
1 teaspoons Vanilla
3/4 c Milk
2 c Cooked pumpkin
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 c Pine nuts, roasted
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium size bowl, mix eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well, then add pumpkin. Mix well and folk into dry ingredients. Add pine nuts. Pour batter into 2 greased 5×9-inch loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes.
The pine nuts generally taste better if, before they’re added to the mix, you put them on an ungreased cookie sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes at about 350-400 degrees. It roasts them a little. But watch them carefully to make sure they don’t burn.
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MAPLE-PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
1 Graham cracker crust in 8″ spring form pie pan
1 lb low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (or 1 can)
1/4 cup flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°. Put all ingredients into blender, a little at a time, alternating wet and dry. Process until smooth, then pour into crust and spread evenly. Bake for about 50 minutes. Let cool before serving. May be topped with yogurt, flavored with 2 Tbsp maple syrup. Take it up a notch drizzled over with caramel sauce, and sprinkled with chopped pecans.
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A TASTE OF CULTURE…
If you have kiddos, you can make this supper a lot of fun for them. This is also a great get-together for church, or a Senior Center, or a classroom if you are a teacher, or homeschooler? Below are the cornucopia of ideas I’ve collected over the years for either a dinner party, or you can use them as activities during a weekend or weeklong festival.
Background Music: Tribal Winds, Music from Native American Flutes; also cd Good Medicine by John Two-Hawks – American Indian Lakota flute player & musician. I actually have several CD’s that I love, shown below. (Not shown: Gathering of Shamen – Native Flute Ensemble, Medicine Man – Pete “Wyoming” Bender, The Stories of Red Feather Woman – also featuring the music of Andrew Vasquez, with special guest Rodney Grant – Windriver).
Host a Pow-Wow: American Indians, at least those I am familiar with (Northern Arapaho, Eastern Shoshoni, Lakota Sioux, and Utah Navajo ) have an annual party called a Pow-Wow. They set up teepees, do dances, trade and sell craft items, share food, pray, play games, pass the peace pipe, and tell stories. Thermopolis Wyoming is home to the annual Pow-wow of the Windriver tribes, the Gift of the Waters Pageant, and they tell the history/stories of the giving of the healing waters (see clip on Facebook).
Here’s a fun idea: ask your guests to bring “trade items” (things they have outgrown, don’t use, or don’t want any more) to trade with each other. All unwanted items can be donated to a local charity thrift store after the get-together.
Hoop and Pole Game
Natives of different groups have their own special ways to play the Hoop and Pole game, but in all the games a person tosses a long dart of some kind at a circular hoop. In this version of the game the hoop is rolled along the ground, set into motion by a third player, while the two other players throw their pole as the hoop rolls in front of them. The score depends on how or if the pole falls on or through the hoop. Netted hoops are made by the Arapaho of Wyoming and other tribes.
Navajo tribes play a stick and dice game, and also a shoe game. Google them to see how they are played.
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The Sun Dance, usually conducted once a year, is a custom of the Arapaho people. The Sun Dance is a sort of prayer ceremony. See more about it here.
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Navajo Blanket (given to me by my father-in-law) collage
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PEACE PIPE
As the sun sets, gather everyone around to sit “Indian style” in a circle in the center of the yard around a fire pit. Pass around a “peace pipe” with imaginary tobacco in it and let everyone take a puff. This ritual in Arapaho belief is supposed to bond friendships. Encourage the oldest men of the group to pass on some of their wisdom to the younger by telling interesting stories of their boyhood, what games they played, things they did with their parents, faith experiences, etc. Some can share lessons they learned from mistakes they made. Maybe dad or grandpa or Uncle Jerry has a “vision” for the family (or church, or group) or a weird dream that they had that they would like to share.
CRAFTS
Make Bead ChokersMake a loom and weave pot holdersMake Beaded MoccasinsMake a Dream Catcher
The following are items I made for my granddaughter’s teacher to use for a center in her Kindergarten classroom this year.
Make a “Pretend Garden” using an old wooden box covered in burlap, pantyhose filled with black beans for the rows of soil, and hand-stitched felt veggies. Let the littles enjoy hours of play planting and replanting veggies.
Dollar Store bows, with homemade quivers for the arrows, plastic Bowie knives in homemade sheaths, and and assortment of primative instruments – they look cooler with feathers tied to them! Set up deer silhouettes and various parts of the yard and let the littles go hunting for food. Also let them make music for dancing.Homemade Bamboo “Cane Poles” with string and child-safe hooks, and little fishes that they can catch with them. Make a “pretend pond” and let the littles catch fish for supper.
When you were born, you cried
and the world rejoiced.
Live your life
so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice. — White Elk
We do not want schools…. they will teach us to have churches. We do not want churches…. they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that.
I was given the opportunity recently to make a bunch of tissue paper flowers for a school project. I had so much fun with it honestly, and thought, these sure would make a beautiful decoration, or they could be used for head garlands (as pictured here) which are pretty popular in Texas, or Homecoming Mums (another Texas thing), or to decorate Derby hats, or for a garden tea party, or luau, or 
The center pom kind of makes a flower that looks like a cactus flower. You can do the same sort of thing with green tissue going out the bottom to look like the bud part of the bloom (just cut it with deep zig zags instead of the fringe). You can also experiment with various cuts, and you can also layer two colors of tissue together to make more interesting options. Here are some samples of the flowers I made. They turned out soooooo pretty?
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To prepare the anasazi beans, soak overnight in water to cover. The next day, drain the beans and place them in a saucepan with fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let the beans simmer until the skins break, about 3 hours. It may be necessary to add water as the beans cook to prevent them from burning and sticking. After the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside. You should have about 3 cups cooked beans.
There is a Hopi Squash Kachina (Patung). He is Chief Kachina (wuya) for the Hopi Pumpkin Clan. He runs with men of a village in spring ceremonial dances to attract rain clouds.
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Hoop and Pole Game
throw their pole as the hoop rolls in front of them. The score depends on how or if the pole falls on or through the hoop. Netted hoops are made by the Arapaho of Wyoming and other tribes.
mrshlovesjesus 