Introducing Clean House Wednesdays

by: Felicity King

Imagine trying to scrub off those stains..
{Easy stain removal tip in the third post of this series.}

If you are one of the many women across the nation who are struggling to keep a clean home within time limits or have a lack of efficient cleaning methods, this post is definitely for you!
Avonlea's experienced homemakers and B&B cleaners will be posting every Wednesday {starting next week}. They will share with you their secret cleaning tips and their favorite, most used cleaning products.
We hope you will enjoy this series and that you may glean some helpful solutions to your everyday cleaning dilemmas.

Stay tuned for Clean House Wednesdays!

Thoughts Of Spring

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." -Charles Dickens

"There is one good thing about this world...there are always sure to be more springs." -Anne Shirley

"It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season." -Kate Morton

"The seasons change and you change, but the Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad, and as full as ever." -Charles H. Spurgeon

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes." -author unknown

"Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds."
 -author unknown

"I'm looking forward to summer. It's the nicest day of the year." -everybody

Mealtime Monday Series Complete

by: Olivia Dale

And that was it for the Mealtime Monday series! Even though some of the posts were published very late (and we apologize for that!) we hope that you have enjoyed getting a sneak peak into our rural kitchens and that you have tried some of our delicious recipes.
Perhaps we might introduce another mini series in the near future, so keep checking the blog for more "pieces of Avonlea"!

Desserts

by: Elvira Lawson

Baby Daniel, with chubby hands in Hetty's birthday cake.

Eating a well made dessert is simply divine after a hearty meal.
However, if one is not careful to manage his intake of these sweets, gaining weight could become an issue. Eating small measures of something sugary once in a while is the best route to take health wise.
Instead of serving serving sweet pies and cakes after every meal, I would suggest serving a bowl of fruit or homemade, sugarless applesauce.
Biscuits with cream and fresh strawberries is absolutely scrumptious as well.
There are so many different dessert options that don't necessarily need to be cakes or pastries.


Apple Sauce.

Delicious served with biscuits, or can be eaten just as is in a bowl. Enjoyable eaten either hot or cold.

-A pot full of apples picked from the local orchard, peeled, cored, and sliced.
-water
-cinnamon (optional)

Fill 1/3 of the pot with water. Place in the peeled, cored, and sliced apples (the water mustn't cover the apples at all, if this happens pour out some of the water.). Boil until the apples have softened and have become mushy. Add a dash of cinnamon, if using. Mash with a potato masher until the apples have become mush and is pureed.
Serve either hot or cold after dinner. Enjoy!

Foreign Delicacies

                                                                 by: Murial Stacey

Trying foreign foods can be a delicious adventure to undertake. Spices from India; Spanish spaghetti with meatballs and hot red tomato sauce; Dutch bitterballen or stamppot with speculaasjes and room soezen; the delicious foreign possibilities are endless for the taste buds. The spices from oversees carry their invigorating smells throughout the domestic kitchen and fill the nostrils of hungry children.
I will share one of my favorite recipes from the small European country, the Netherlands. During my travels I visited Holland for a week and fell head over heels for their scrumtious, Dutch delicasies. It is simple to make but an absolutely divine eats. The Dutch definately know how to cook!

 "Stamppot". A traditional winter food among the Dutch farming families. Warm, hearty, and extremely tasty!

*200 g kale
*500 g yellow potatoes
*1 smoked sausage
*10-15 g butter
*milk
*dash of salt and pepper
*100 g chopped ham/bacon (optional)
*dash of salt and pepper
*pickle juice

Peel the potatoes and slice them in half. Chuck them in the pot along with the (washed) kale. Make sure that the water is over the tops of the the kale and potatoes. Boil until the potatoes are tender (20 minutes). Cook the smoked sausage along with the potatoes and kale. In the meantime, bake the chopped ham/bacon, if using, in a skillet until brown and crispy, without adding any extra oil or butter. Mash the potatoes, kale, ham/bacon, salt and pepper together with the butter and a dash of milk. If the mixture seems dry, add another splash of milk.
Serve with the smoked sausage, a splash of pickle juice, and a dill pickle on the side.

The Dutch eat nearly everything with a spoonful of applesauce, so this meal can also be served with a large whop of homemade applesauce.



NEXT in the Mealtime Monday series: desserts, by: Elvira Lawson

Hasty-Yet-Tasty Meals

by: Olivia Dale


As wives, we're always busy; we're either housekeeping, tending to children, or for some of us, working at a job to help make ends meet.
In our busy schedules we tend to let the topic of "what's for dinner?" drop; and so what does the husband get for supper after a long, hard day at work? A sandwhich- or if he's lucky, last nights' left overs.
We all want to do better than that, don't we?

Here are some recipes/ tips that are hasty-yet-tasty; bound to be a family filler and a husband pleaser.

#1. Zucchini in the oven
Before you leave for work or before you will be busy with other things that will last all day, be          sure to have harvested one large (or two, depending on the family size) zucchini and have laid it on the kitchen counter. Anything that saves time, right??
Once you get back home, wash the vegetable and slice it in half (Keep the seeds and innards in it- that's the tasty part!). Sprinkle on a dash of salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Place on a tray. Bake in the oven until tender and the fleshy tops golden.
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and serve with a slice of bread n butter.

#2. Butternut squash
A favorite! Before tending to other duties, peel the squash and chop into blocks. Set aside in water to avoid browning and you are safe to go. Afterwards, bring the pot to a boil. Once it's cooked, remove excess water and place the vegetable in the serving platter. Plop a pat of butter on top and sprinkle it with brown sugar or pepper. Serve with some cold meat and last nights' dessert.

#3. Stir fried beans
Pre-pick a variety of beans from the garden. Wash, cut in three's, place in water, and set aside. Once you are ready to bake, place the beans in a skillet with a pat of butter or lard. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring for half of the time. Sprinkle on salt and pepper and serve with beef and a garden salad.

#4. Baked potatoes
Pre-wash potatoes (1 large potato per person), slice into thin slices, and place in water until ready to use. Remove water and add a dash of salt, pepper, and chili powder. Toss. Place in a skillet with a pat of butter. Bake, stirring most of the time until tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Serve with ketchup and lots of shredded cheese. That's all you need to eat with this recipe as it is very filling.



NEXT in the Mealtime Monday series: Foreign Delicacies by: Murial Stacey 

Family Mealtimes And Everyday Dishes

by: Janet King

As mothers, we want to feed our children the healthiest, most nutritional, and the most filling meals at every mealtime. It is imperative that you cut down sugars. Children do not need much sugar in their diets, they are hyper enough and sugar causes tooth decay and obesity in children these days.

Instead of sugars, replace it with other vitamin packed foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Leafy green vegetables are filled with vitamins. It is essential that your child has a large glass of fresh, raw milk (as that stimulates bone and tooth growth) at every single meal.
Suppertime meals for buzzing families usually include boiled potatoes, a vegetable of some sort, and meat- red meat. Good, stimulating beef. That is one of the most important food sources on your plate.
To ensure a healthy immune system in the family, mix some onions and/or minced garlic in the meals. Garlic is an excellent antibiotic, so if somebody does catch a cold, add extra garlic into his meal. When the father, who happens to be a farmer, is out in the fields working, make sure you pack an extra source of fortifying RED MEAT, a good source of iron, into his lunch pack.
As for everyday dishes, I would suggest that you make sure that you always have an extra scoop of mashed potatoes and greens, because you never know when a hungry stranger may show up at your doorstep and wishes to join your family at dinnertime.

NEXT in the Mealtime Monday series: hasty-yet-tasty meals by: Olivia Dale