Ramblings
A Tale of Homemade Cayenne and Red Pepper Flakes
There is a man, in a house, in The Farm, that loves a pepper bush. It’s his pride and joy.
Well, I guess he just loves peppers in general.
This man loves his pepper bush so much that he made a necklace of all the peppers that came off of it during the long hot Summer and hung them to dry.
At night, all he would dream of was the beautiful peppers that abundantly grew. He carefully picked and separated all the good from the bad.
He made sure to make the “necklace” of only the strongest fishing wire that would surely stay strong all Summer long.
One day, his loving, sweet, clumsy wife decided to surprise the man and turn his beautifully dried peppers into something that would last much longer than the peppers ever could.
She decided to make his peppers into Ground Cayenne Peppers.
So, the good wife threw caution to the wind and picked up the dried peppers (without gloves) like a boss, pinching them one by one, and throwing them into the food processor.
What the good wife DIDN’T know was that even though the skins ground up beautifully, the seeds would not, NO MATTER HOW LONG she processed them.
So!
Being the smart wife she was, she decided to remove the lid of the processor…………. only to be met by an invisible cloud of festering fire! The kind that starts inconspicuously in your nostrils and then quickly moves to your sinuses and before you know it, turns your body into a rage of sneezing convulsions.
PLAN B! , she thought!
Once her body stopped spasming from the uncontrollable sneezing, she regrouped and went to the store to buy a Pestle and Mortar set. She had always wanted one and this may just be the perfect opportunity!
When the good wife returned home, she braved the concoction yet once again. Armed with her new tool,
she thought surely it would work this time………
The good wife’s optimism was only met with disappointment when she realized that the seeds would not grind up with the Pestle and Mortar set either.
PLAN C, she thought!
What better gift …………. than that of not one, but two gifts!
So!
It was then and only then when she was faced with yet another obstacle, that she truly found what she was supposed to do all along.
The good wife decided to give the man Dried Red Pepper Flakes and Ground Cayenne Pepper.
The Red Pepper Flakes were abundant!
The Ground Cayenne Pepper?………………….. Not so much.
No worries though. The wife was very happy.
And the man?
Well, the man was very grateful.
If! And only if you are truly brave, proceed to the recipe below:
And just so you know, it wouldn’t hurt to wear a mask……. or two! LOL!
Recipe: Homemade Ground Cayenne Pepper and Red Pepper Flakes
– Dried Peppers from Cayenne Pepper Bush
– Teaspoon Salt
Directions:
– Pinch stems off tops of dried peppers and add to a Food Processor or Pestle and Mortar. Add salt and process or grind until you reach desired consistency.
– Separate flakes from ground cayenne by using a sifter.
– Store in an air tight container.
The Last One
As I sit here typing this post, he is sitting next to me, explaining the detailed issues between “Zig and Sharko” on Netflix.
“Oh no! Stingrays!” , he says.
A giggle follows as he scoots a little closer. He grabs his “blankie” and immediately goes for the gigantic hole that he has worked back into after the countless times his Nana has fixed it. (* You see, he loves the batting inside)
The blanket wiggles back and forth from his little fingers rubbing the soft aged cotton inside. At what point will this blanket completely disintegrate from the constant abuse? (I think)
By now, he is practically underneath my side and that glorious lime green blanket is lovingly rubbing my arm. I already knew that this would be the end result. Not a day goes by that I do not get asked, “Mommy, can I rub your arm?” Because I know it is a comfort thing for him, I always oblige. 🙂
Now…… I can’t seem to get rid of this lump in my throat.
Ugh! I knew this day was going to come, but still, I guess deep down, I could avoid it somehow!
My mind immediately throws me back to almost six years ago when I was sitting in my bedroom, telling Z we were pregnant. I had a plan and it DIDN’T involve being pregnant with a 3rd child at the time.
However, God had other plans for me. You see, God remembered how I use to sit and stare at Z and the girls and be so INSANELY jealous of the relationship they had. How I would be with them all day long and the moment that man stepped in the door, they would instantly go running to him like he was a Rock Star and not leave his side the entire night until bedtime. Or how we could be anywhere and they would want him before they would want me.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I know my girls loved and do love me, but it’s different with their Daddy. You love both of your parents but there is something about a girl’s love for her Daddy. I knew that because of how I love my own.
Anxiety is now setting in…….
Will his teacher be understanding when he says he is hungry a MILLION times, when he just ate something 5 minutes earlier?
Will his teacher be able to resist his “pout face” he uses when he wants something?
Is she going to understand his bursts of energy?
What if he needs me? Will I feel it?
I asked him a few things tonight. First, “if your teacher asks you a question and your answer is yes, what do you say?” “Yes, ma’am”.
“Good! I said.”
“Ok, if your teacher asks you a question and the answer is no, what do you say?” “No, ma’am”.
“Great!”
“When Mommy misses you tomorrow, what is she supposed to do?” He paused…… Then he thought…….
“Ummm, go to the Grocery Store?”
So, there it is FOLKS!
I guess if you need me tomorrow and every school day after that, you can find me at the Grocery Store……. ALL…DAY….LONG. 😉
Showing Hospitality Towards Others: Veggie Garden Baskets
This is going to be a different kind of post….. well sort of. As you know, I love to blog about all kinds of things. Decorating, cooking, my “babies”. I don’t usually talk about my faith or mention God a lot, but lately, I have felt a tug on my heart to mention him more in the posts that I share.
Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to go all “Bible” on y’all. I wouldn’t dream of doing that!……. OR WOULD I? 😉
I mentioned before in a previous post about being Hospitable towards others. We are called to do this and I believe it is truly good for someone’s soul to show hospitality towards others. It is a natural thing to want to show others kindness. Showing hospitality is a kissin cousin of kindness.
Think about it!
Doesn’t it make you happy to see the smile on someone’s face when you give them a gift? It’s a joyous feeling when you truly see the look of excitement from them. The fact that you would take the time to think of them and make them feel special makes their heart so full.
Well, we have been blessed this year with a Crazy Growing…..Wild Looking……. (Like it is on Steroids)……. Garden.
We have veggies coming off left and right. As we sat there admiring the fruits of our labors, we thought to ourselves…..” There is no way we will ever eat all of this ourselves!”
Then, for a second (AND I MEAN SPLIT SECOND), we thought we could.
Then we thought about the MASSIVE 5 day bellyache that may cause.
Then, we had an idea!
Why not bless our friends and family like God has blessed us this Summer?
I thought this would be a great opportunity to show my BABIES how to show that same hospitality towards others…..
So, we grabbed our baskets….
Some ribbon, and cards and got movin.
We stuffed them full of goodies….
Added a quick note….
Plus a little tag secured by the ribbon. “Veggie-Blessed” was the best I could come up with. DONT JUDGE ME! LOL!
Then we took off and made our stops.
I loved the sheer excitement on my babies faces when they got to deliver the baskets to our friends. Some were home and some were not. I don’t know…… There is something fun about leaving goodies for your friends on their doorsteps. Thinking about the look on their faces when they see the gift that was left for them.
*SIDE NOTE: Make sure that you let them know there is something waiting for them on their doorstep just in case they have a garage. If they are like me, they don’t use their front door as much and might not see it waiting there for them! 😉
They couldn’t wait to run up to the next door!
You know, they say it is better to give than to receive.
However,
When you give,
You DO Receive!
You receive the smiles and the thankfulness that goes along with giving of yourself and your time.
Now I ask you…..
What could be better than that?
“Do not forget to show Hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have shown Hospitality to Angels without knowing it.”
What ways do you show Hospitality towards others?
Why not try something easy to start off with? Why not try writing a note to someone and ask them how they have been and tell them how much you care about them? Put a stamp on it and stick it in the mail! The gesture will go further than you think!
*Will you be the next to be Veggie-Blessed?
Let’s SEE!
xoxo,
Esther
Make your own Command Center!
Have you heard of the new concept of “Command Centers”? Well, I reckon it’s a new thing? Whoa, I just said reckon, but I’m not ashamed.
Basically, if you are short on space, or you don’t have a designated area for an office, you can take something as small as a corner or a wall and turn it into a COMMAAAAAAAAND CENTER! (I imagine some crazy loud man with an echo saying that)
That is exactly what I did in the corner of my dining room.
You can put whatever you want in your center. It is the area in your home where you typically take care of your bills, schedules for your family, organize dinner menus (etc.) There aren’t really any set rules because let’s be honest, everyone’s home runs differently than the next home.
What I did, was take 4 plain, wooden clipboards that I picked up from Office Max for $2.99 each, only to be horrified later when I realized I could have gotten them from The Dollar Tree for…… you guessed it!
However, the ones there were not exactly the same. They didn’t have the circle at the top that made it easy to hang on a single nail and would have been difficult to hang as a result. Some of the things I put on my boards that help me were a blank grocery list that I grouped into areas of the store so that I wasn’t playing ping pong back and forth throughout the store while I was there.
Then I did our weekly menu for meals, my monthly calendar, and a great household planner I found at the The Confident Mom to help organize MY LIFE! LOL!
All of the templates other than the one I created for the grocery store, I found online by searching “free calendar printables” or “free menu printables”. I don’t have the links to the ones I used, but….
Here are some great examples of other Free Printables:
Shining Mom (Free Printable Monthly Calendar)
The Suburban Mom (Free Printable Monthly Calendar)
Sweet Bella Roos (Free Menu Planner)
Posh Ideas (Free Menu Planner)
Next to the clip boards, I have one of my bulletin boards that I keep fun things on, important reminders, appt. cards and so on. I love showcasing some of the sweet artwork the kids bring home from school too!
I also have an area for my files with important things I need and a basket that I labeled for mail overflow.
Overall, I love this little nook and what we turned it into. I forgot to mention that most of the things I used, were things I already had. That is the best part about one of these command centers. Try your best to use items that you already have. I already had the desk (Target), chair(Old Time Pottery), bulletin board (Homegoods), baskets (Goodwill finds), and file folders (Office Max).
I bought the clipboards and slipcover for the chair. Again, the clipboards were $2.99/ea. and the slipcover was bought from Pier 1 for $39.95.
If you have the time and want to organize your Family day to day life…… or simply your own life, seriously consider a Command Center!
I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Happy Decorating!
XOXO,
Esther
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