perspicacious.org

Today our way of living and our schools are much different; so many things have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with the simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong. Great improvements in living have been made because every American has always been free to pursue his happiness, and so long as Americans are free they will continue to make our country ever more wonderful.

With love to you all and best wishes for your happiness, I am
Sincerely your friend,

Laura Ingalls Wilder
1954

Full text of Laura's letter is here.

Love to all of you this Thanksgiving. I hope you're warm, comfortable and happy.

I made a lovely Skillet Baked Ziti last night. It's one of our favorites– you basically throw everything in the dutch oven and cook a bit on the stove then finish in the oven. Only one pot to wash, which suits me. Now my zen-like kitchen (ha) is clean and ready for the weekend.

No food pics, as we ate it all up.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (I just grind mine up in the food processor)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like the basil, garlic and oregano flavored ones, and I pulse them a bit with the garlic and sundried tomatoes in the food processor)
1 tablespoon sundried tomatoes, oil packed
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3 cups water
12 ounces ziti pasta
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil leaf, minced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475 F
2. Combine oil, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 12-inch oven safe nonstick skillet and saute over medium-high heat for 1 minute
3. Add tomatoes, garlic, water, ziti and 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. Cover and cook, stirring often maintaining a simmer, for about 15 minutes or until pasta is tender. (Cover, but also stir? Just go with it…)
5. Stir in cream and basil, season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Sprinkle cheese evenly over ziti. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes.

Fab.

What did you do over the weekend? I held a blow dryer up to my sliding door for half an hour in an attempt to melt the ice that's already forming. It didn't work. The door is still frozen shut. Not a huge deal, but R was going to add some foam insulation between the door and screen, but no dice if we can't open the door.

Any moisture in the house (from, you know, breathing, shower steam, boiling water…) hits the cold door and forms fog. Which condenses and drips down the door, filling the track beneath with water. I sop it up with a towel every couple of days, and it's not unusual for the track to be completely filled with a couple inches of water. We're thinking of getting a shop vac to suck it up. Because it's not likely we'll stop breathing anytime soon.

This is a strange place to live. A strange, strange place.

I am loving this recipe. It's exactly the kind of thing I like to bake– not fussy, rich ingredients, simple, tasty… I took this donut muffin recipe, which calls for sugared tops. I made a brown sugar cream cheese frosting instead and, whoa. They are good.

Sugar Donut Muffins (via stylish quisine)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I used about 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

-In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.

-In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.

-Divide batter evenly into 10 muffin cups or ~24 mini-muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.

-Bake for 15-18 minutes for standard-sized muffins or 11-12 minutes for mini-muffins, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Yield: ~10 standard muffins or ~24 mini-muffins

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (via smitten kitchen)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 2T light brown sugar
2T cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
-In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar.
-In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light.
-Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens back up a bit, about 30 minutes, then spread or dollop on cooled cupcakes.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I love to use my crock pot on Mondays. I set everything up on Sunday night (here is my method for making crock pot meals ahead of time), stick the crock in the fridge, and pop it in on Monday morning to start cooking. This minestrone soup recipe is one of my favorites– easy and warm and yummy.

Ingredients:
-4 oz. Italian sausage (I like mild or sweet)
-1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
-3 cups chicken stock
-3 scallions (or use 1/2 an onion– I hate onions so I stick with scallions)
-1 cup mini shells or other small pasta
-1 clove garlic
-1 can kidney beans, (or you can use 1/2 cup dried kidney beans, presoaked for at least 12 hours– that's what I did)
-1 cup frozen corn
-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Brown the sausage.

2. While the sausage is browning add broth, tomato sauce and corn to your crock. Add the garlic– either press or mince it. Dice and add the scallions.

3. Add the browned sausage to the crock.

4. Reserve the pasta. You can either cook it and keep it in a container in the fridge until ready to use, quickly cook it up and add it just before you eat, or add the pasta to the crock pot 1 hour before eating. Don't let the pasta cook all day– it will be mushy and yucky.

5. Cook the ingredients, minus the pasta, for 6 hours on low. Add your pasta as above, and eat and enjoy!

Serve with French bread and a sprinkle of fresh parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat the heck out of it, and pretend it isn't below zero and dark out at 5:00 p.m.