Reusable Valentine Napkins

Have you ever considered using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins? Cloth napkins are a fantastic way to reduce the amount of disposable waste a family creates.They can be inexpensive and the beautiful colors and prints brighten up mealtimes.

I grew up using cloth napkins on many occasions so it was only natural for me to use cloth napkins when I started my own housekeeping. (When I founded my kids' charter school, I even insisted that the lunchroom use cloth napkins for meals instead of paper napkins!)

My kitchen table has side drawers that are the perfect spot to store our everyday napkins. Special napkins and holiday prints are kept in the linen closet at the end of the hall.

We wash our napkins after every use (my four children are very messy when they eat) so I keep a laundry basket near the washer where the youngest child drops off the napkins after each meal. I throw the napkins in with a regular load of wash. No extra fuss and no extra soap or water to wash them.

I make my own napkins out of cotton fabric that I buy either at the local fabric store or repurpose from second-hand sheets and tablecloths. There are many reasons that environmentally conscious families avoid cotton and some people prefer linen napkins but I have found cotton fabric to be inexpensive, readily available in many prints and colors, easily obtainable. (I don't like the commercially available polyester napkins. They aren't particularly absorbent and just smear the food around.)

I made new cloth napkins for Valentine's Day this year. I selected a red print that I fell in love with and cut 15 inch squares.

I serged the edges and then hemmed them. (Sometimes I just serge the edges of my napkins and occassionally, I even let the edges fray in the wash.)

Using cloth napkins isn't a new idea but many families still think that paper disposables are more sanitary and convenient. A few people even claim that paper napkins are more environmentally conscious. (I disagree with their logic.)

Are you ready to switch to cloth napkins?

Heart Pancakes

As a general practice, I don't do elaborate celebrations for holidays but I do think a few simple touches can make the day special. Today's is Valentine's Day and one of our favorite traditions is to make heart pancakes.

To keep it quick on a school morning, I used a "Just Add Water" pancake mix and added some extra water to make the batter runny. I did large open hearts, small hearts and XXOOs. Sometimes, my kids like to help make the shapes. That's part of the fun.

The secret to is to pour the batter in a picnic-type squeeze ketchup bottle. This gives the best control over the designs. I have previously done quite intricate designs but it is more difficult to flip them and I admit that I was in a hurry this morning to get kids off to school so we kept it simple.

These are small enough to pop in your mouth without any toppings like syrup or jam and make great snacks for the rest of the day. Happy Valentine's!

Chinese New Year 2012

This past week brought the Lantern Festival which marked the end of the two week long Chinese New Year holiday. For our family's celebration, I chose a new dinner recipe and had my children make the decorations. We set the table with chopsticks, small goldware forks I inherited from my grandmother and our red Christmas damask napkins. It was simple but elegant.

DECORATIONS: One of my seven year old son's teachers taught him how to make paper lanterns at school. He came home and began making colored lanterns to decorate the entire house.They are pretty simple: fold a piece of paper in half longways and make three inch cuts perpendicular to and across the folded edge of the paper. Open the fold and secure the two shorter sides of the paper with glue or staples. Add a handle if desired.

Another of our decorations was the vase of "cherry" blossoms. I cut a few scraggly branches off of my Hawthorn tree. The red bark was the perfect match. My teenage daughter hot glued crumpled squares of leftover pink tissue paper in clusters along the branches.

MENU: This year, our dinner menu consisted of noodles, rice, honey-walnut shrimp, spicy egg drop soup, jiaozi and, of course, Mandarin oranges.

Unfortunately, I can't take credit for honey-walnut shrimp recipe, but I can certainly offer a fabulous review. I found the recipe online at Rama Malaysia. It was easy to make but I did make a few small changes to her original recipe-- I decreased the shrimp to 1/2 pound of smaller sized shrimp, used walnut pieces (and increased the amount), added an extra 1/2 tablespoon of honey and increased the sweetened condensed milk to 2 tablespoons.

Honey Walnut Shrimp
1 lb. 51/60 count shrimp
3/4 C walnut halves
3 T mayonnaise
1 T honey
2 T sweetened condensed milk
1 t lemon juice
1 egg white
1/2 C corn starch
2T oil for frying

For the walnut glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Peel and deveined the shrimp. Pat dry with paper towels, add the egg white, mix well with the shrimp and set aside.

Rinse the walnut halves with water, drain and set aside. Heat the water until it boils and add in the sugar. Keep stirring until it turns thick and golden color and then add the walnut pieces. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a greased cookie sheet to dry.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat.

Coat the shrimp with a thick layer of corn starch and then and then fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Remove the shrimp from the wok and drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey, condensed milk and lemon juice. Add shrimp and toss with the mayonnaise sauce. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Banana Cream Pie Filling

I made a delicious banana cream pie yesterday and thought I would share my recipe. (I wish that I had taken a picture but....) I love this recipe because it uses powdered milk.

Banana Cream Pie Filling
2 C reconstituted powdered milk
3/4 C granulated sugar
4 drops yellow food coloring
3 T flour
1T cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/4 cold water
1 egg
1 1/2 T butter

Combine the milk, sugar and food coloring in a 3 quart pot. Heat to near boiling. In a separate container, combine the flour, salt, cornstarch with the cold water (1 T at a time) until they form a smooth, thick paste. Add slowly to the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over medium-high heat for several minutes until slightly thickened. (Do not allow the mixture to burn.) In a small bowl, beat the egg well. While stirring briskly, add the egg to the hot mixture and cook for one additional minute. Add the butter and remove from heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Let mixture cool slightly in the refrigerator.

For yesterday's dessert, I used a graham cracker crust with one large banana sliced in the bottom of the dish and I topped each serving of pie with Cool Whip.