Dutch letters for Everyone! (well really just for me and mine) April 19, 2012

A friend of mine was in Iowa for work this week…and complaining about it (sorry Erin). After chiding her harshly (well actually not too harshly) I decided to prove her wrong. Now, I don’t know about you, but the way to my heart is through my stomach. I would have a hard time hating a place that has great food. Conversely, I have a REALLY EASY time hating a place with gross food.  A really easy time. I am SERIOUS about food. In fact, when my honey and I are recounting vacation memories, they almost always center around eating; “remember those fried green tomatoes in Sea Side?” “Ohhh, what I would give for a gyro from Layla’s, oh and some Blvd. Bread” “I mean, Philly really ruined us for any knock off cheese steaks.” On and on we could go. We LOVE food.

SO….for my friend I suggested a few Iowa staples: Maid Rites, Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Cheese Curds, Caribou Coffee (this is a MN thing, but quite delish) and Dutch Letters. All of the above can easily be found in pretty much any major city in Iowa-except Dutch Letters. I tried really hard to hook a sister up, but in the end came up dry.

So what the heck are Dutch Letters? Dutch letters are these amazing almond paste filled flaky pastries sold in Dutch bakeries in Dutch towns in Iowa (and the occasional super market). They are shaped like S’s. I don’t pretend to know ANYTHING about Dutch culture, except they seem to have affinities for wooden shoes and windmills. But in these Dutch towns, almost everyone is of Dutch heritage and everything is pristine and their bakeries are simply SUBLIME.

The good news is this-I didn’t really come up dry because I stumbled upon a little recipe for Dutch letters that had rave reviews…almost all of which claimed it tasted just like the ones from Pella, IA (the most famous Dutch town). SO I set out to find me some almost paste and get crackin’.

This is the link to the recipe on All Recipes…I’ll show you how I did it in pictures below.

Dutch Letter Recipe

I halved the recipe because I can just tell you now, we don’t need a million pastries just hanging around our house (I gained just a few too many lbs at the last Ob visit-like 8 too many, so I’ll write the modified version and you can double it if you’d like-which I won’t encourage if it’s just 2 of you).

First I mixed 1 cup of flour, 1/8t of salt together. Then I cut in a stick of chilled butter (yes, a whole stick-can you hear my arteries clogging through your computer speakers? If it gets annoying, turn your volume down). After I cut in the buttter, I slowly added 1/6 C of ice water, until the mixture came together into a ball. This is not absolute, if you need more water, use it. I did. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Next I mixed a tube of almond paste with 1/4 C of sugar and 1 egg. I’ve never figured out how to split an egg effectively, so I made the whole mixture and popped half in the freezer so I can impress my parents when they come down.

Then after 30 minutes of chill time for the dough, I rolled it out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut it in 1.5 inch stripes.

Then I put my filling in a pastry bag and piped it into each strip. When the dough was filled, I simply folded each strip over and shaped them into S’s!

I baked them for 20 minutes at 375, although I’d recommend checking them at 15 mintues. This is how they turned out:

These were easier than pie and trust me I make a lot of pie and it’s way harder than these. They were so good, that my man, who can never figure out why I get so excited about Dutch Letters ate 1 and a half just tonight.  If you are a displaced Iowan and need a taste of home, these are for you. Enjoy!

Now if someone could just fry me a Pork Tenderloin sandwich, I’d be in hog Heaven!

Why we tell our daughter she is beautiful, and why you should tell your’s, too! April 6, 2012

This idea behind this post is so very complex that there is NO way I can tackle all that I want to here. It is such a huge issue, that books and documentaries need to be (and are) dedicated to it. Let me start with 2 stories:

Mine: I grew up the oldest of three girls. In my day (the 1990′s) all pre-teen/middle school girls were either chubby or rail thin. (Now they are either obese or perfect looking-and those are two more lengthy posts I don’t have time for right now). I erred on the chubby side. To top it off, I had braces and my boobs were too big. My hair was WAY too long. I wasn’t cute. Boys weren’t piling up to ask me out or hold hands. Nevertheless, my parents told me constantly how beautiful I was. And for the most part, I believed them. Like any girl, I thought I was kind of fat (I still do-who doesn’t?) and I didn’t like my boobs (who does?) I wasn’t by arrogant about my looks, but I was ok with them. I didn’t loathe myself.

My friend’s: I don’t know much of this story, but my friend (who said I could share this), is the oldest of 4 girls. I didn’t know her growing up but I know her now. I don’t know her sisters at all, but have seen pictures of them of Facebook. Their mother, in an attempt to stave off arrogance, didn’t tell them that they were pretty.  (They are ALL very pretty girls) Thus, they grew up not believing that they were pretty. While their mom’s intentions were noble and good, they back fired.

SO, fast forward to now. I have my own little girl (and another on the way). Subjectively, I think she’s beautiful. Even when she was a newborn, a wrinkly 5 lb newborn, I could not believe how wonderfully and amazingly beautiful she was. I think that even if she is someday awkward in middle school, I will still think she is beautiful.  BUT, here’s the hard truth-no matter how objectively or subjectively beautiful she is, culture will tell her undoubtedly that she is flawed, and that will happen very, very very soon.

Here’s the deal. Not only is my child beautiful in my estimation, she is objectively smart and objectively athletic (takes after her daddy on that one-wohoo). I also think she’s pretty hilarious-a total spit fire. Furthermore, as her parents, we are trying to instill in her goodness. This is hard, but it’s so important. We are trying to teach her respect, kindness, generosity, and how not to whine. all of the time (AHHH!!:)) These things are the most important parts of raising little girls: esteeming them, building them up, teaching them kindness. As a culture, we have no problem telling our girls that they are smart, or athletic, kind, or funny. (Well, I admit to a large degree there is still a bias toward boys/men in all of these categories-but once again, another post, or book, or EPIC). When she aces her first test, she’ll know she’s smart. During the first race she wins or basket she makes, she’ll know she’s athletic. When people laugh at her stories or jokes, she’ll know she’s funny. What I’m saying, is there will be markers and affirmation for these other attributes. But I think that in all of this we forget that maybe she also wants to hear, “you are beautiful.” Don’t I? Don’t you? Despite all of our other attributes?

At the end of the day, although we know that who we are on the inside IS the most important thing. (We also know that when a beautiful woman opens her mouth and only garbage comes out of it, she becomes ugly). Appearance is important to us. As much as we say “oh I don’t care about how I look,” we do. If this wasn’t true, why do we spend time on our hair? Why do we spend time on our make-up or buying clothes that we like? Why do we get pedicures? Why do we wear high heels that give us bunions when we turn 28 (sad day for me 5 years ago….still missing my heals even now)? Why do even very little girls have an opinion about their personal style? Why do they want to dress up in mom’s clothes, or wear tutus over their jeans? We can buck this innate fact as much as we want, we can say it’s a lie, but deep down, we want to be and feel beautiful…desired. If this were not the case then attraction would not be an issue in relationships.  We are who we are on both the inside and the outside. The inside is the most important, but the outside is important to us, too.  And a when a woman or young girl does not feel beautiful, her insides are affected.

If you believe in a Creator (which you may or may not), and if you believe He is good, and you believe He made humans in His own image, then we are all beautiful. We may not be beautiful in the world’s eyes, but we are beautiful as creations. I don’t believe in a God that would make some ugly and some pretty. I just don’t.

So that’s why, if no one else tells my little girls that they are pretty, they will hear it from me and from their Daddy. They will know the abundant truth that we think they are valuable and worthy inside AND out. They will hear everyday “you are smart, you are one of a kind, you are loved, you are pretty.” And no matter what, at some point they will hear or believe the opposite. And when that happens then they will be irrevocably changed in some way, and it will break my heart. But I, as their mom will keep telling them “you are smart, you are one of a kind, you are loved, you are pretty.” Because they are.

Three more stories:

Mine: The other day a random girl who I happened to see TWICE in one week (I also happened to be wearing the same blue dress both times), told me I looked stunning pregnant. She pretty much immediately apologized, “Oh that’s so weird, I’m sorry.” No one ever (besides my husband) says that. And you know what? It made me feel pretty great and I told her so and the thought made me smile for days.

My dad’s: While visiting church members at a hospital he encountered an older woman who was volunteering. Having such a kind and sweet countenance, he found himself telling her “You have a beautiful face.” He was embarrassed by the randomness of such a statement, but I’m also sure this woman’s day (and maybe week) was made.

A middle schooler’s: While serving as a leader on a youth trip in Florida, I was counseling a 7th grader. In the middle of our conversation, an older youth, one who was pretty cool, walked up and interrupted us to ask me a question. In the middle of his question he stopped, and said to her, “You are just beautiful.” Years later, when I brought up that incident she still remembered it and smiled. I hope she still does.

Tell your daughter she’s beautiful today. Tell someone you know that they are beautiful. Tell a stranger, too.

To see how culture distorts natural beauty, click here:

Photoshopped

To read about the film, Missrepresentation, and how you can go against culture’s flow to esteem young women, click here:

Missrepresentation

If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and you are interested in helping to build confident and healthy young girls, click here:

Beautiful and Amazing Me

Happy meals and my big brother November 3, 2010

There is quite a bit to be said about yesterday’s election day…most of it I will keep to myself, at least for now. But there is one outcome that we need to talk about: San Francisco’s board of supervisors voted to disallow the sale of toys with any complete meal boasting 600 calories or more.

Now, here’s the deal, folks-I’m as anti-childhood obesity as the next guy, but banning happy meals is a band-aid on this epidemic, and an ill-fitting off brand band-aid at that. (Let me be clear on this: I do realize that some, if not MOST obesity is the result of deep emotional wounds, it is because of this that I believe the ban on Happy Meals is a mere band-aid on a deeper issue). But for the rest of us who can’t fit into our old jeans anymore and are raising our kids to eat whatever they want, it’s simply time for us to STOP PLAYING THE VICTIM! My husband loves fast food and since marrying him, I’ve probably consumed more fast food than I did in the 27 years before I met him.  Have I become obese? No. I have stopped eating french fries, I get the healthier menu items, I get smaller portions (often in form of kids’ meals). Could I supersize all my meals? Yes, yes I could, but I don’t. And usually I just let him and his “I’m a little man” self go eat fast food alone.  It is not the fault of McDonald’s, Chick Fil A, Taco Bell, that people are obese.

Here’s my question: whatever happened to personal responsibility? Whatever happened to just NOT taking our kids to McDonald’s? Or letting them have an occasional Happy Meal on their birthday? Whatever happened to budgeting our money in such a way that we can AFFORD healthier foods at home? Or even learning to grow our own healthy foods in the back yard? Whatever happened to ordering our busy lives so we have time for exercise? What ever happened to eating until we are full? Why do we think that putting leftovers in the fridge is such a bad thing?

I don’t see cities banning cable tv or putting an age limit on operating gaming systems-both of which I believe play a large part in childhood obesity. Why? Because people would lose their minds! But I tell you what-I don’t believe we are far from it, because for some reason we believe that Big Brother can hop in and fix everything. He can fix poverty, he can fix the mortgage crisis, he can fix health care, and now he can fix childhood obesity. No, the government cannot fix these things and in the last 100+ years of trying, we have only ended up in a deeper hole.  

We have abandoned the idea that we play any role at all in our own personal well-being. Furthermore, as parents we’ve handed over child rearing  to teachers, church workers, and politicians. Our grandparents and great-grandparents would be heartbroken by what their children and grandchildren have become, and I am too.

The solution lies with us, dear friends, not our Big Brother.

 P.S. I enjoy Chick Fil A kid’s meals on a regular basis and if they take my toys away, I’m gonna be TICKED!

Read more about this story here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/11/03/2010-11-03_san_francisco_enacts_happy_meal_ban_city_decides_to_prohibit_toys_to_come_with_f.html?r=news/national

PPS. Please do not read this as a knock on overweight people-this blog is a knock on our foolishness in expecting the government to solve our problem and also a knock on the government being so pious as to think they can solve every problem.

Not your Mama’s BLT August 26, 2010

Ever since I was a kid,I’ve been a little obsessed with the sandwich. I mean really, what could be more perfect than great bread, meat, and veggies all in one compact little piece of perfection?

Two Mother’s Days ago, (I know this NOT because I was a mom yet, but because I was on the phone with Bunny, my grandma) I smelled bacon cooking in the kitchen. When I hung up the phone with Bunny I went in there to find Matt making BLT’s for dinner. Now I LOVE setting this man loose in the kitchen. 1. For the MOST part he cleans up after himself (except for little tiny crumbs on the stove top that don’t seem to bother any one in the world but me). 2. He’s a really creative cook. These BLT’s had every veggie from the fridge and some cheese. Cheese on BLT’s?? Yes. And it was goooooood. Needless to say, we have not made a 3 ingredient BLT since.

The other night, Matt wanted them, so I whipped up some creative juices of my own and this is what I came up with…

Ingredients

Sour dough bread

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Bacon

Swiss Cheese

Spinach (fresh/organic-I don’t splurge on many organics yet, except for Spinach-it is infinitely tastier than regular bagged spinach and not exorbitantly priced)

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Mayo

Horseradish Mustard

1. Get that bacon going. As you cook the bacon, slice up enough cucumbers and tomatoes for each sandwich.

2. Brush one side of each slice of bread with a little bit of Olive Oil and sprinkle with some garlic powder. Place Olive Oil down on a skillet. I have one of those flat ones that is good for pancakes or eggs.

3. When one side is toasted, add the Swiss cheese to one slice immediately so it will melt. Smear mayo and mustard on the other slice.

4. Then layer your sandwich with cucumbers, tomatoes, and spinach. 

5. Enjoy!

Last words…I think part of the reason Matt and I particularly enjoyed this sandwich, was because of the bread. If you’ll notice, most restaurants will toast just one side of the bread leaving the outside soft so you can bite into it easily, but the inside a little crunchy. If you do this at home and if you buy some good bread, you’ll have restaurant quality sandwiches almost that effortlessly.  Secondly, using fresh ingredients makes all of the difference. A ripe tomato is worlds better than one that is not. I recently read an article about what foods to refrigerate and what to leave out. Turns out tomatoes get mealy if you refrigerate them. SO, wait until they are ripe on the counter. I bought these at the store when they weren’t quite ripened and then waited-and it was worth it.

How do you make your BLT’s?

How to vent successfully July 10, 2010

The other day when Matt and I came home from spending time with family, he was feeling down, “I’m sad we’re home” turned into “I don’t like it here” turned into “My allergies are acting up” turned into “I don’t feel good.” Now, Matt is not much of a complainer and venting is NOT part of his vocabulary. In fact, usually when I try my hand at venting to him, I get a slew of solutions meant to magically and quickly solve my problems. SO, I took this rare opportunity to coach him in the art of venting. Most of us women, have it down…but our male counterparts need a little help I think.

How to Vent

1. When you’ve internalized your feelings for what seems like an adequate amount of time (this could be anywhere from 5 min-5 days) express your feelings to your wife or girlfriend.

2. Say it once using one wording. Doesn’t that feel good? Now try it again using different words. Ahh. Feeling better already. Maybe try one other way, but that should definitely be enough. No more.

3. Your wife will probably nod and say “I’m sorry,” sympathetically. If she’s in a really good mood, she may say “wah wah wah,” but then apologize because that was sort of rude.

4. Sympathy may not make you feel better, so if not, ask for solutions to help you feel better.

5. If you still don’t feel better call one of your buddies and vent to him. (This is not advised and only should be used in extreme circumstance as your buddy may think you are a sissy).

6. Get over whatever you were venting about. Venting can quickly turn into complaining and that is BAD news.

How NOT to vent

1. Do NOT tell everyone and their dog your issues and feelings (your own dog, however, would be a good listener). You know those people who are real Debbie Downers? Don’t be like that. No one likes a Debbie D. When someone you barely know asks, “how’s it going?’ and it’s not going well, um…just say “good” or “well” if you want to be grammatically correct.

2. Do NOT vent on Facebook or Twitter. This makes Facebook and Twitter a cesspool of negativity. Ugh. Once again, no one likes a Debbie Downer. People have figured out how to block status updates and they will block yours. How sad. Be cheery on Facebook and Twitter.

3. Try not to wear out the same “vent” topics on your spouse, this will grow old. Women are guilty of this A LOT and we are sorry. We are.

How to listen to venting

1. Nod sympathetically and say “I’m sorry.”

2. Do not give solutions unless they are asked for. Men-this is tricky, we know you like to solve problems, resist the urge to do so, really. Trust me. If you want solutions from us, ask and we’ll work on it.

3. Hug and assure the venter that you love them. If you know how they feel, empathize. This can also be tricky. Don’t one up them with a situation that’s way worse than theirs (Unless you happen to be the venter’s mom or dad and they are a kid-then sometimes one upping is necessary. I definitely plan on telling my kids that I walked to school in snow up to my knees uphill both ways when they complain about eating their vegetables).

4. Suggest that you eat some ice cream (or frozen yogurt) to feel better. Or play a video game (I don’t like this option, personally, but I bet Matt would).

There you go. Easy as pie. In a nut shell:express your emotions and feelings to those you love but don’t dwell on the negative. It’ll only get you down.