In the Kitchen: Lemon Italian Ice Milk

100+ temperature, again.  18+ Too many days in a row. 

My basil can survive the heat because of my Earth Box system, but I can’t stand the heat while picking the basil!  So for anyone looking for my In The Kitchen post on how I preserve basil for use in the winter (cool temperatures, what a concept!) please check back in a couple of days.  By Monday Soon we are suppose to have a slight break in our heat wave and I will harvest and prepare some basil.

In the meantime, what simple, fresh ingredient treat, can we prepare to cool and refresh?  How about Lemon Italian Ice Milk (or other citrus, such as lime, lemon-lime, or orange -- a very cream'sicle flavor).  

This ice milk is creamier than “italian ice” but icier than “ice cream”.  It is very light and easy to digest on hot, humid days. You definitely taste both sweet and tart “notes”, making this an interesting ice cream flavor.

Gather your ingredients:

Juice and grate the lemons:

Mix together all ingredients.  Freeze following manufacture's instructions for your ice cream maker.


This recipe produces a soft serve consistency.  If there are leftovers you can certainly freeze the remainder for future use; this recipe freezes very hard.  If you don't mind taking the ice milk out of the freezer and waiting for it to soften before serving, then freezing the remainder in a single container should work for you.  However, once you process this in your ice cream maker, you can freeze the ice milk in popsicle molds ... creating easy to serve instant single-serve treats.




Ingredient summary:


3 C: Buttermilk (Regular, Reduced Fat, or Fat Free)
1 1/2 C: sweetener (sugar, artificial sweeteners, and agave syrup all work)
1/4 C + 2 T: citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange, or a combination)
1 teas: citrus zest

Enjoy!

To see other recipe and food related posts here @ Happily Home After you can select Cooking under the Browse By Category heading at any time or you can click here now.

-------------- Link Up's ------------------

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; 8/2/11 @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

This post is also linked to Something Swanky Sweet-Treats-Thursday

Documenting Household Contents

Are you stuck inside your house in the A/C trying to escape the relentless heat wave engulfing a large portion of the United States?  I sure am.  Here in Richmond the forecast is for 100+ temperature, again.  

Looking for an inside activity?   Here’s one for you to try ... you could even involve kids and make this a family project!

Pick any room in your house and make a complete list of contents.  And while you are making this list you cannot be in the room … you must do this from memory.  

Your list should include all furniture, decorative objects on display, as well as items stored in drawers and behind cabinet doors.  Don’t forget anything hanging on the wall, window coverings including hardware, rugs, and lamps.  Installed lighting and flooring should also be noted.

You need to list everything, and I mean everything, currently in the room.  

How accurate is your list?  Was your list almost complete?  What items were overlooked when making your list?

  

How would you feel if the overlooked items just disappeared  - poof!, from your life?  That’s what might happen if you couldn’t identify all your contents for an insurance claim.

You have to know what you had to be able to replace what you had. 

Believe me, even if you are the most organized of minimalists and have an incredible mind for details, any list you create from memory will not be fully complete.  Especially if you have just experienced an accident / crisis / emergency situation, such as a house fire.  

I was stunned when I realized how much stuff we have once owned.  We are a household of 2 adults and a puppy dog.  We periodically donate items no longer used to Goodwill and other organizations.  And still, here’s how much space a portion of our contents occupied in a large warehouse after the fire ….

Folks, that’s a lot of stuff.  Over 300 boxes of things.  Just things.  Furniture is separate from boxes.  Clothing and textiles are also separate.  Crazy.  

Seeing this example, do you really want to have to list all your contents from memory without some form of visual aide? 

New activity (this is the part that kids could participate in): grab your digital camera and photograph all rooms in your house!  

For every room you should take a photo of each of the 4 walls plus the ceiling and floor.  If there are items stored out of sight in the room (in drawers, closets, etc.) open each space and photograph the contents.  

For example, for a buffet with 4 drawers, take a photo of each drawer opened with the contents visible.  

I know, it is a lot of photos, it will take some time to complete this task.  But hey, you worked hard to earn the money to purchase what you have, and you don't want to take the chance of just loosing it, do you?

What to do with those photos now?  Don’t forget to store / archive those photos somewhere else other than just the memory card in your camera.  Many of the ideas for storing your Insurance Policy and Claims phone number discussed here could be used for your photos as well. Additionally, because you wouldn’t need immediate access to these photos after a fire, you could also use a safe deposit box at your financial institution for “safe keeping”.  

Who knows, maybe you will rediscover some forgotten treasures in your house while taking photos!  And you might also identify some items for donation.  I just love a multi-tasking activity, don’t you?  Especially if you are staying cool indoors and keeping the kids busy.

Gratitude and Appreciation

{Our bedroom ... bed made ... first step towards a styled bedroom}

I love photos of perfectly styled bedrooms.  Gorgeous drapery, grande headboards, luscious pillows.  

As we all know, the bed is the focal point of a bedroom.  So I always wondered why, although I admired the look of a styled bedroom, I could never manage to make the bed.  This was a very self defeating habit of mine.

After the fire we lived in a hotel (the Westin in Richmond) for several weeks.  I loved returning to the room at night to find the bed made and to fall into those layers of crisp white, soft, fluffy bedding.  It was a very comforting experience.

When we left the Westin we moved into temporary housing; we were very fortunate to locate a furnished townhouse that was available on an open-ended short term basis.  However, when we moved into the townhouse I just couldn’t bring myself to sleep in any of the beds!  I think it was something about being in a residential setting and not having any of my things with me and having to sleep in someone else’s bed.  A bed just seemed to be a very personal item and it constantly reminded me, that although the townhouse was a great refuge, it was not home.

We were not ready to purchase a new bed at that time because we did not yet know if our bed would be deemed cleanable or not.  So off to Costco we went to purchase an Aerobed!  

We moved the twin beds around in the “children’s room” at the townhouse and inflated the mattress, and that is where we slept for the next four months.  The mattress itself was surprisingly comfortable as any house guest of ours will discover, as that mattress is now in service in our guest room.  However, Beaver (our dog) found the mattress to be quite unsettling as it was not a solid surface to walk on.

So I’m sleeping on an air mattress and now I want to make my bed!  However, truth be told, you really can only straighten sheets on an air mattress; tucking and military corners do not work on an “all in one” unit.  Sigh.

So when we returned home I didn’t even think about it.  I haven’t missed a day.  Every day I make the bed.  I want to make the bed.  It’s about appreciation and gratitude for what I have while reminding me, that every day, there are plenty of people in this world who would love to have a bed of their own to make.  

Crazy Good Basil

Summertime, and the living is ... hot.  


Richmond, Va., like most of the United States, has experienced 95+ temperatures and a heat index of 105+ for the past ten days.  


Still, my container garden thrives, shows no sign of wilt, and does not dry out although watered only once a day.  Really.  Truly.  Thank you Earth Box!

{Basil grown in an Earth Box on my deck}

Have you ever seen basil grow so large?  The porch railing seen behind my "garden" is 36" tall and the basil towers above the railing!

{Large, healthy, tasty basil leaves}

Look how large these basil leaves are!  And they are very tasty ... no loss in flavor because they are grown in a container.


The Earth Box is a sealed growing system.  There is a plastic cover on top of the soil that prevents (greatly limits) rain water entering the soil; the box is watered through a tube installed at one of the box and the water resides in a reservoir under the soil.  Since the box is "sealed" via the cover, as the soil heats up during the day, water is drawn into the soil and thus waters the plant roots.  The watering reservoir has an over-run outlet that prevents too much water going into the system; you fill the box until you see water start to run out.


Other benefits of my Earth Box is that it is movable; casters come with the Earth Box.  However, we've found that once loaded with soil, plants, and water, the standard casters don't move easily across our deck boards.  So, we placed appliance dollies under the box and problem solved ... it glides.


Moving the box is useful for:

• cleaning the deck
• ensuring the plants get proper sun orientation and / or shade
• putting the box & plants in our covered screened porch when storms with damaging winds and heavy rain

An Earth Box can be used to grow vegetables and flowers also; I've just found it perfect for my culinary, organic, herb garden.

Check back later this week if you are curious how I preserve my basil to use in recipes during the winter months ... I need to "harvest" some basil this week so I will take photos of my process!  Also, if you'd like me to include additional information in this upcoming post, send me an email with your suggestion by clicking here.  Thanks!
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I purchased my Earth Box at a local garden shop but click here for their website with complete product information and a online shop.

I have not been compensated in any way for posting this information; I just love my Earth Box and have had repeated success growing my herb garden over the past three years.


This post is linked to the Garden Link Party at Centsational Girl.

Storing Your Important Insurance Policy Numbers

Does anyone ever think they will have a house fire?  I sure didn't.  


Our fire was caused by the dishwasher; a control panel malfunction caused an electrical meltdown.  Sparks = flames = fire.  So you see, the unexpected can happen.   What are you going to do if the unexpected happens?  Will you be prepared?


Other than owning fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, we were not prepared.  When it was time to place the call to start our claim process, well, we didn't know who to call.


Check your insurance card you say?  Sure, just a minute, that's in my wallet, in my purse, which is in my house.  Oops, don't have that.


Check your insurance policy you say?  Right, why didn't I think of that?  "Hey honey, you grabbed our insurance folder on the way out of the house during the fire, didn't you?"  Nope.


Call your agent ... you remember where you purchased your insurance, don't you?  Yes, I actually did remember who we purchased the insurance through, but that agency is part of the Independent Agent System, meaning they sell policies for  multiple insurance companies.  Typically, when you purchase through an independent agency, the policy is serviced (claims) through a centralized national office rather than where the policy was purchased.  


Had our fire been Monday - Friday between standard business hours I certainly could have contacted our agent and they would surely have provided the information we needed.  Our fire was on the weekend after the July 4th holiday.  Weekend. Holiday. Office closed.  

Fortunately, we were able to retrieve the information needed from inside our house.  But you shouldn’t count on being able to access anything in your house.  You need to plan ahead and have copies of important information, such as policies and contact numbers for questions and claims, accessible in trusted locations outside your house as well.

Some ideas:

• How many cell phones do you have in your household?  Every cell phone you carry should have an entry for Homeowners Insurance with the policy number noted and the Claims phone number.  

• Do you have a mobile computing account?  An online account that is password protected and that you can access from any computer, anywhere?  This would be a great place to store the policy and claim numbers too.

• Family members live in the area?  How about putting that information in an envelope and asking them to store it for you?  Or writing files to a thumb drive ($10 or less these days) and leaving the device with family.

• Family members live outside your area?  Give them the information for safe keeping.  I doubt you’ll forget their phone number and they will be so very glad to hear you are OK and that they can help you by retrieving the information for you.

• Trusted friends?  Same as family … have them store information for you.

My point is, if the unexpected happens, you will need and want your policy information.  If someday you need that information you'll be glad you made the extra effort today.

A Blog Is Born

Welcome to this lifestyle blog with a twist ... my name is Robin and I'll talk about many home related topics such as cooking, decorating, and DIY projects, but I will also share what I learned recovering from our house fire.


Our house fire happened on July 10, 2010 at 2 a.m.  Our house did not burn to the ground; however, repairs and restoration required us to live in temporary housing for approximately 5 months.  We returned to a house that was both the same and yet very different, and I have yet to discover much on the internet that addresses this type of fire recovery ... most of the blogs I've visited are written by survivors of a total fire loss.


As we marked our first year post-fire this past weekend I wondered what I would do with the information and emotions I carried with me from the fire ... and the idea to blog was born.  I know that whatever I write will be helpful to me in my personal recovery from the fire and I hope that others can benefit from these words as well.


Although this blog will discuss a sad and sensitive topic for many - house fires, I plan to post information-based and upbeat articles that celebrate that I am, happily home.  I hope you'll enjoy this blog and visit often.