Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Raising children and downsizing. Can you guess what these two have in common? Well, neither comes with an instruction manual! It’s pretty much on-the-job training. While shopping for some fancy built-in cabinetry, I met a young craftsman named Anthony. With an artful eye for detail, he will install our beautiful custom-made china cabinets in the two niches in our kitchen/dining area. Anthony needs specific tools in order to do this project: hammers, saws, screwdrivers, drills, and the like.

What tools would be useful for downsizing? Courage, decisiveness, creativity, patience, organizational skills, diligence, attention to details, the ability to face a reality check, humility in some cases, and a supportive group of family and friends are some handy ones to have in the old tool belt. Because God created us with individuality and personality, we have the freedom to develop our own style, setting the course for a unique downsizing experience and results; mine will be different than anyone else’s. There is great satisfaction when all of the planning begins to come together, no matter what style is expressed.

In the past few years some new tools have made their way into my kitchen. I find them not only interesting and fun to use but quite helpful as well. Some of them cause the finished dishes to have a more uniform and ‘professional’ appearance. These are some of my new faves!

Rasp  Microplane ® is the brand I recommend. These are hand held zester/graters and they come in extra-fine to coarse and even one that makes ribbons. One of the biggest advantages is the ease of use. Grating parmesan and other hard cheeses makes the presentation of pasta dishes extra-special. Zesting citrus fruit is a breeze with these. Grating chocolate over desserts or lattes is easy!

Mandolin  I think this tool is aptly named because running the food over the blade is somewhat like strumming a mandolin. You can’t beat this for thin slices. There are settings for paper thin to a quarter of an inch. I have trouble making uniform thin slices. The blade is very sharp so there is a food holder device to protect your fingers.

Emersion Blender  Replacing the old method of blending hot sauces and soups by batches in the blender, the emersion or stick blender is used right in the cooking vessel. This is much less messy and much safer than the blender batches.

Spider  The Asian design for the ultimate slotted spoon, use this for removing solid items from liquid. It looks like a small, shallow, metal-mesh basket on a long wooden handle. It can be used in hot oil or boiling water and because it is so open the liquid drains easily back into the pot.

Grill Pan  Pretty much anything that can be grilled on the outdoor grill can be grilled in the grill pan indoors on the range. In some cases, with even better results. The important thing is to allow the pan to get very hot before placing any food on it.

Perfectly Grilled Salmon

To prepare salmon fillets that are crispy & caramelized on the outside and moist & juicy on the inside, pat the fish dry with a paper towel, rub the fillets with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the grill pan so that a drop of water will sizzle on it. Place the fillets skin side up. Grill until flesh side has grill marks – about 4 or 5 minutes. Turn to skin side down and grill about 3 minutes longer. Leave the grill on the burner but turn off the heat. Cover the pan with foil and let sit for 10 minutes. If desired, place a drizzle of olive oil, a small pat of butter and a squeeze of lemon for flavor. Garnish with flat leaf parsley leaves.

Vidalia Chop Wizard  An ‘As Seen on TV’ device, this is my most favorite recent find. I do all sorts of things with this. It is a dicer with two sizes of grids. There is an oblong receptacle with a lever top. The items to be chopped need to be sliced to about half an inch before placing on the grid and the flesh side needs to be face down as chopping through the skin first will ‘squish’ the food. I also use this to make egg salad. Salsas – vegetable and fruit – work great in it.

Perfect Fresh Guacamole

Place the small mincing grid on the Vidalia Chop Wizard and push through the following:

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced lengthwise
1 Roma tomato, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 large clove garlic, sliced thinly
1 small shallot, sliced thinly
Several leaves of cilantro

Replace the small grid with the larger one and push through 2 ripe avocados. Add 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice.

Mix thoroughly and transfer to serving bowl set in center of a variety of tortilla chips.  I like to use different colors such as blue, red and white corn chips.

TIP:  Use the right tools for the job.

Romans 5:4 …perseverance produces character and character hope…

Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Ever been ‘in a pickle’?  I must confess that this article is the only one I have written with the main purpose being to deliver certain recipes. But, I have some fabulous recipes involving pickling!  Those will come later; however I did get into a pickle with a wrong tile selection. We chose a seemingly beautiful tile for part of our master bathroom. When an approximately 2 x 3 feet section was up, what we thought was a random design took on a very unattractive pattern. The sample tile looked beautiful, but when more were put beside it the pattern became Zs that made our eyes go all googlie. And in a small space – it flat out didn’t work! To fix it cost us a bit of money and probably a week longer in the hotel. I would say that was somewhat of a pickle. It got replaced with a much calmer tile and we moved on.

Maybe the best thing about being in a pickle is figuring a way out of it!

Purple Eggs & Beets

I have had these every Easter!  They are delicious and beautiful, the whites turn magenta and the yolks stay bright yellow. Cut into halves and placed on an egg platter along with some of the beets and some green parsley sprigs, and they look ready for The Food Network! And did I say they are delicious?

1 ½ dozen hardboiled eggs, medium size works best
4 cans baby or medium whole beets, not pickled
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup granulated sugar

Drain the juice from the beets into a 4 quart saucepan and place on medium heat stirring in sugar and vinegar. (Adjust these to your taste – more sugar for sweeter or more vinegar for a piquant flavor.) After all of the sugar is dissolved, set aside to cool.

Peel the eggs. In a glass canister, place layers of beets and eggs, beginning with beets on the bottom. Pour the beet juice mixture over the beets and eggs.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 days. These are ready to serve on the third day and last for over a week covered in the refrigerator.

Pickled Shrimp

Friends of ours served this to us about 5 years ago and it is one of the best things I have ever eaten!  My friend says it makes an appearance at every family get-together. I made this for another friend and her husband’s Navy ship retired officers’ reunion. We received requests for this recipe from all over the USA!

Boil 3 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon salt.
Add ½ cup coarsely chopped celery tops with leaves.
Add ¼ cup pickling spices (find these with the spices).
Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes to develop the spice flavors.

Drop in 2 pounds raw, cleaned, deveined shrimp, fresh or frozen, leave tails on. Use 20 – 25 per lb. size shrimp or 16 – 20 per lb. depending on how many you want to serve.

Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Immediately drain in colander and remove most of the spices and set aside.

In a glass bowl, mix together the following:

1 ¼ cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small jar capers with juice
2 ½ teaspoons celery seed
1 ½ teaspoons salt
Several dashes of Tobasco sauce  (Adjust this to taste – I like quite a lot.)

Set brine aside

For the next step you’ll need:

2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
10 – 12 bay leaves

In a glass dish, layer onions, 3 bay leaves and shrimp. Repeat layers. Pour brine over the shrimp. Push shrimp around to make sure they are completely covered. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To serve: drain off excess brine and serve with toothpicks. Baguette slices make a nice accompaniment.

Pickled Cucumbers & Red Onions

This is just a little somethin’ somethin’ to make as a relish on a summer day when the ‘cukes’ are plentiful. I like it with fish as a garnish or on a sandwich.

1 or 2 English cucumbers
1 medium red onion
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup granulated sugar

Thinly slice the cucumbers and onion. It’s best to use a mandolin, but be careful, they are sharp! This also tastes great with just the cucumbers.

Place the sliced vegetables in canning jars – a size of your choosing (no canning required; it’s just a good place to put them). Heat sugar and vinegar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool, and pour into the jars with the vegetables. Refrigerate. The ‘pickles’ are ready in just a couple of hours. They store and last for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

TIP:  Whenever possible, avoid ‘getting into a pickle’!  Or, as in the case of golf, stay out of the rough.

I Corinthians 10:13….God is faithful…and will make a way of escape for you….

Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Cleverness…..…Did you ever see anything so clever that it made you wish you had invented it? I did. Our quest to purchase a dining table that suits the size of a smaller living space led us to a locally owned store that carries only dining tables, chairs, and bar stools. It was there that I saw this clever thing! I think a picture is worth a thousand words, but I will try to describe it.

The function of this thing is to help the customer construct a facsimile of a finished table. It stands about three feet high and measures about two feet square. There are three rotating sections. It looks somewhat like a little carousel. The top rotating section holds twelve table legs of different styles. The middle section has eight table top styles and the bottom section has a selection of eight aprons.

To begin, I chose the farmhouse style of table leg. Rob, the young man who was helping us, slipped the leg out of its holder at the top and into a slot at the bottom of the ‘little carousel’. My husband spun the middle section to select the table top he thought looked the best; then together, including Rob, we selected the apron. When all three sections were spun to the choices we wanted – voila! – there was a model of our table! I tell you, it was the coolest thing! We ordered our ‘custom-made’ table in the perfect size for our condo and in a great creamy white finish sanded here and there so some wood shows through the paint. We will see it in 4 to 6 weeks.

At the end of that day I found myself still marveling at the cleverness of that thing and thinking whoever invented it must feel pretty smug. I wished it had been me.

Walk-about Food

Last year a friend and I worked together on an event for 150 people.  We thought and thought about what to serve and hit on this (dare I say?) clever idea. It was very well received so I’m just going to put it out there for you along with some variations. We called ours ‘Walk-about Salads’.  We had two distinct types: Italian & Thai.

The idea is to serve layered combinations of classic ingredients in individual clear containers. For the large group, we used plastic, short, wide-rimmed, 9 ounce glasses from the party store. To dress it up, or for smaller groups, martini glasses are perfect. Keep the elements bite-sized so it is easy to eat – no knife needed. For added pizzazz, moisten the rim and dip in an appropriate seasoning – such as a mixture of coarse salt and celery seed for a tomato salad or raw sugar for desserts. I like to use heavy-weight plastic spoons or forks of colors that enhance the dish. Here, then, are a few of the ideas.

Walk-about Toy Box Tomato Salad

Fill glass a third of the way with large cherry tomatoes cut in half.  Next place cubed feta cheese and top with a chiffonaude of fresh basil leaves. To make the chiffonaude, remove the leaves from the stem and stack, then roll them up like a cigar and slice across the short end with a sharp knife.  In a canning jar, place the same amounts of balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Add a tablespoon of sugar and 4 cloves of garlic, minced, a pinch of salt and a grind or 2 of black pepper. Place the top and turn the ring tightly to seal the jar. Shake to emulsify the dressing. Drizzle a tablespoon or two over the salad. Serve with a bright green plastic fork.

Marie’s Lettuce Wrap Walk-about Thai Salad

Fill the glass to 1/3 with shredded iceberg lettuce. Spoon meat mixture in next (see recipe below). Next comes scallions, cut finely on the diagonal, using white and green parts. Top with coarsely chopped cashew nuts, a lime wedge and a few cilantro leaves. Garnish with a little Asian paper umbrella and add a black plastic fork.

Meat Mixture:  In a skillet, lightly brown 1½ lbs. ground turkey in 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add 1 diced small yellow onion and cook until onion is soft. Add 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons each of freshly minced garlic and ginger. If desired, add a little red chili paste for heat. Cook 3 minutes longer. Stir in 1/3 cup Yoshida’s marinade and 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar. Remove from heat and mix in ½ each of a red and a green bell pepper, finely chopped. Let cool. Layer in glasses as directed.

Walk-about Shrimp & Avocado Salad

Place medium-sized peeled, deveined, tails on shrimp on a baking sheet in single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400⁰for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Layer in glass with 4 shrimp on the bottom, ½ an avocado in the middle, and top with several ruby red grapefruit sections. Tuck a butter lettuce leaf on one side of the salad and partly under the shrimp. Have the ruffle edge of the lettuce stick up a little from the glass rim. Drizzle with 1 or 2tablespoons of your favorite raspberry dressing. Top with a shrimp and a parsley sprig. Use a bright red plastic fork to set off color of the shrimp.

There’s so much more you can do: Walk-about Caprese Salad; Walk-about Caesar Salad; Walk-about Tira Misu; Walk-about Strawberry Short Cake; Walk-about Vanilla Wafer Banana Pudding; Walk-about Cherry Pie; Walk-about S’mores; Walk-about English Trifle.

These are just a few possibilities. I heard of one fancy party where mashed potatoes with gravy was served in martini glasses and in the September 2010 Food Network magazine, it showed layers of pulled pork with barbeque sauce and mashed potatoes topped off with a cherry tomato!

TIP:  Life is just a bowl of cherries!

Psalm 104:14 …bring forth food from the earth…

Read the whole chapter!

Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times… This opening sentence of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens has become the most famous paradoxical statement of all time. Remember, a paradox is a literary tool that causes the reader to say, “Wait a minute. How can that be?!”

In this volatile housing market, it was the best time to sell our house and downsize. It’s a buyers’ market; it’s a sellers’ market. How can that be? It’s true that housing prices are down and that profit on the sale won’t be as much as hoped, but it also means a lower price on the other end. The interest rates are at an historic low. The builders are anxious to have their inventory reduced and occupied so they offer many incentives to ‘sweeten the deal’ to the buyer. Resale homes are priced to sell – and if they aren’t they remain on the market and the price eventually gets lowered to true market value. All of these things work in the buyer’s favor and you get lots more for the money than two years ago. It’s a good time for the seller because lots of folks are out looking for a traditional home to purchase. This really benefits us ‘downsizers’!

Looking at the Old Testament story of Joseph, one wonders how this could be good, but Joseph’s gracious response to his brothers, who left him for dead in a ditch, is a wonderful example of God’s care for us and Joseph’s great character.  Joseph told his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Sweet and Sour (How can that be?) Meatballs

This is a fabulous dish to serve at the holidays. It fits well into a buffet or can be used as an appetizer. Whichever way you choose to use it, the aroma makes mouths water! I am also passing along a tip I saw on the Giada DeLaurentiis cooking show.

Turkey Meatballs

Special equipment – an electric fondue pot or a small crock-pot, a couple of 24 tin mini-muffin pans and a mini-ice cream scoop

2 ½ pounds ground turkey
1 pound Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
1 small yellow onion, diced very small
¾ cup Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
½ cup heated evaporated milk
½ cup Eggbeaters
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Crumble the meats together with your fingers into a large bowl. Moisten the breadcrumbs with the warm milk and along with all other ingredients mix into the meat. Do this with your fingers being careful not to over-mix as that will cause the meat to be mushy. There will be plenty of seasoning from the sage sausage and the Italian flavored breadcrumbs.

OR: Use your favorite meatball or meatloaf recipe.

Giada’s tip: Spray mini-muffin pans with a vegetable spray such as Pam.  With the mini-ice cream scoop, place 1 ball in each muffin tin. (Don’t over-fill the ice cream scoop as these are to be party size.) This makes evenly sized meatballs and thus they cook evenly. Bake in a preheated oven at 400⁰ until well browned and cooked through.

OR: Skip all of that and purchase tasty frozen meatballs from Trader Joe’s.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Combine and heat for 2 minutes in microwave:

12 oz. jar of Heinz chili sauce
18 oz. jar of apricot-pineapple preserves

Cut the following into 1 inch pieces:

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 ½ cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup sweet onion, such as Vidalia or Maui (pull layers apart)

Layer the meatballs with the peppers, pineapple chunks and onion in the fondue pot or crock-pot. Pour heated sweet and sour sauce over the mixture making sure it gets all the way to the bottom so everything is coated. Keep at a simmer. To serve, have a supply of cocktail napkins and long skewers nearby. This recipe makes 60 meatballs.

TIP:  When one door closes many more plus a few windows open.

Malachi 3:10 …and I will open the windows of Heaven and pour out for you such blessings..

Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Yes!  We bought cans of spray paint for our five grandchildren! There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this aberrant behavior of perfectly dignified, law-biding, gray-haired grandparents.

The condominium we purchased, and soon will be moving into, had no model for us to sit in and visualize how we might plan our new living space. The model of ours is the sales office and is not configured the same as ours. The wonderful saleswomen guided us to Linda, a woman who has the same style of unit that we will have, and made arrangements for us to meet her. She invited us to come to her home to see the layout and take measurements and the like. Of course, we had the blueprints, but seeing the build-out was invaluable to us. Linda has become a great friend. We decided to begin our friendship early. We go to lunch and movies and sometimes I walk Sonny, her dog, with her.

One day when I was at Linda’s, she showed me some pictures of graffiti on concrete. And then she shared a very fun activity that she and her grandchildren had done. Before any of the decorative flooring was installed, she had her grandchildren spray messages on the slab of her home. I loved the idea and asked permission from Linda and the builder to do the same in our unit. When all of our family were together a month or so ago, we went to Wal-Mart, purchased the paint with trigger tops and went to our condo which was at the perfect stage to do this. My husband sprayed several large frames on the floors throughout the rooms – this gave the kids some boundaries. They donned hard hats, received the cans of paint and went for it!  We all had so much fun. My husband took pictures of their artwork. Once the floors are installed the artwork will no longer be visible, but as we walk through the rooms we can imagine the pictures under our feet and revisit the fond memories of that day.

STAINED GLASS DESSERT

This dessert/salad looks like a work of art! It’s a holiday favorite for our family, we use it as a salad with turkey dinner.

Jell-o Squares

1 large pkg. each – lime, cherry, orange Jell-o
1½ cups boiling water for each package

Dissolve each Jell-o in separate containers keeping colors separate.  Glass pie plates or square disposable plastic containers with seals work well.  Lightly spray containers with Pam before adding Jell-o.  This helps with removal and keeps the edges neat.  Chill overnight.

Cream Mixture

1 cup pineapple juice
1 large package of lemon Jell-o

In a saucepan, heat lemon Jell-o in pineapple juice until completely dissolved. Remove from heat and add 12 ice cubes. Stir until mixture is syrupy and chilled. Remove any un-melted ice.

Whip 1 pint of heavy cream and add ¼ cup sugar. Whip until peaks hold. Fold whipped cream mixture into pineapple mixture, being careful not to deflate the whipped cream.

Cut the colored firm Jell-o into 1 inch cubes.  Carefully fold the colored cubes into the whipped cream mixture.

Crust

24 crushed graham crackers (do this in a food processor, or purchase the crumbs in a box)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar then stir in melted butter, coating all of the crumb mixture. Line a spring form pan or an English trifle bowl with 2/3 of the crust mixture. Bring the sides of the crust up only about an inch or so.  This way the colors of the Jell-o squares will show. I like to use the clear trifle bowl because it shows off the colors but is much less messy to serve. Turn the cream & Jell-o onto the crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 6 – 12 hours.

Tip:  Sometimes you have to think ‘inside the box’.

John 8:8 ……Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground…….

 Small Bites… Adventures in Downsizing

 Jan Kinzel

Oh, what a beautiful morning…..sitting by the serene sun-drenched hotel pool, enjoying a cool and very gentle breeze. The birds take their perches on the pitches of the Spanish-tiled roofs telegraphing to each other their plans for the day. It’s the first day of August and we have a move-in date of September 12!  Six more weeks to moving time and six more weeks of biding my time at the hotel. It’s vibrant here. The last couple of weeks the hotel has been filled with traveling teams of young people playing in various sports tournaments. The parents and coaches come along, too, making it a fun and interesting mix. Many different areas of the USA are represented, and represented well. The kids are pleasant, cheerful and excited about what each day will bring. Joeux d’ vie!

Morning is aging and soon they will stir, go to breakfast the hotel provides, and break the serenity I have been enjoying while I lounge at the pool. Now the space will be filled with exuberance, texting, giggling, rough-housing and the like. Am I disturbed by all of this? No! I feel privileged to be here among it all, and for a few moments, remember the days when my children were in their growing-up years! It’s time for me to get moving anyway to get ready for the day. We have a wedding to attend and other activities. But it’s great to take the time to enjoy the early moments of a beautiful morning in the sunshine with the birds chirping away on the rooftops.

Breakfast!  A great way to greet a new day and express love to family and friends!

The Menu: 
Baked Eggs with Fresh Herbs and Cream
Croutons
Little Smokie Links
Broiled Grapefruit
Toasted English Muffins with Sliced Strawberries
Freshly Squeezed Orange juice
Steaming Coffee

Baked Eggs with Fresh Herbs and Cream

Use two extra large eggs per person. With vegetable spray, coat a ramekin for each person. Place a small pat of butter in each dish and carefully add two eggs per dish. Season the eggs with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle a mix of finely chopped fresh herbs on and around the eggs. I like to use a little sage, thyme and basil. Add a teaspoon of crème sherry wine and 1/3 cup of half and half cream.  Bake in a 375⁰ oven until whites are set and yolks are cooked to desired doneness. Remove from the oven, garnish with a couple of basil or sage leaves. Place two of the croutons in one side to finish the presentation.

Croutons

Slice a sour dough French baguette on the diagonal making thin large pieces. Lightly butter the slices and toast them on a baking sheet until very crisp. Rub a clove of garlic over the toasted bread.

Little Smokies

Place Hillshire Lil’ Smokies on a baking sheet lined with release aluminum foil. Bake at 400⁰ until they are lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl and serve family style.

Broiled Grapefruit

Use tart grapefruits and cut into halves. To make them easy to eat, cut between the membranes and around the rim loosening the sections. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of brown sugar and place a maraschino cherry with a stem in the center of each grapefruit.  Place under the broiler until the sugar bubbles and begins to caramelize. Serve each in a bowl.

Toasted English Muffins with Sliced Strawberries

Toast English muffin halves in a toaster or on a baking sheet in the oven. After toasting, spread with butter or your favorite spread.  Sprinkle the buttered side with ½ teaspoon of granulated sugar. Top each one with sliced strawberries. Place on a platter and serve family style.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Serve the juice in a special way of some sort.  I like to serve it in a pitcher with matching juice glasses that are hand painted in a rooster motif. (I also use rooster and chicken printed paper napkins and color coordinate the rest of the table.) I tell my grandchildren that we are “having breakfast with the chickens!” Another serving suggestion is to pre-pour the juice in flutes or martini glasses and garnish with a thin orange slice and sprig of mint.

Steaming coffee in French press pots is a fun touch!

Tip: Look for the rare soulful opportunities and appreciate the gift.
This is the day the Lord has made…be glad… Psalm 118:24.

Small Bites…Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Over the years, I have observed that everything is composed of elements.  A sculpture, a building, a painting, an outfit to wear, a meal – all of them have necessary elements that complete the undertaking.  And, each finished project is held together by a theme.  Years ago, I attended a show in San Francisco called “Beach Blanket Babylon.”  The playbill had a list of thirty or so musical numbers.  I looked at the first and the last, and wondered how they related to each other—and to all the others in between.  The show began and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz stepped on stage to announce that she was looking for a “rich doctor.”  Then I understood that she was the thread that held all the musical numbers together.

A strand of pearls is held together by the silk thread on which they are strung, but snip the thread and the pearls go all over the place. As my husband and I are choosing the ‘pearls’ that comprise the décor of our new condo, we are stringing them on the silk thread of Rustic Tuscan Elegance, a décor style that compliments the architecture and landscape of the whole complex. Warm and vibrant Tuscan gold wall color set off by creamy white ceilings, crown moldings and window trim with plantation shutters create a great backdrop for the other elements. Nutmeg stain on cherry wood gives a cheery feel to the cabinetry.  Anchoring the main living areas with dark plank hardwood flooring brings just a touch of formality to the rustic style.  Soft gold sculptured carpets in the two bedrooms add some softness and a Persian area rug in the living room highlights the furniture that sits on it.  The accent colors are cinnabar red and creamy white.

Because texture is a very important design component, both hard surfaces and soft textiles are needed.  Natural stone is added in various places. One whole wall in the living room has calm, creamy white ledge stone surrounding the fireplace.  Granite, with big swirls for the counters, Travertine tiles, and polished marble complete the stone element.  For the soft textures we have chosen a ‘mushroomy’ white velvet couch and cinnabar Italian leather chairs for the living room.

Decorating a small space for comfy living takes lots of research and planning! With downsizing, keeping every element to scale influences all other considerations. Every inch counts.

Deconstructed as a food term means the elements of the dish stay separated. Cobb Salad is an iconic example. Deconstructed – good! Decomposed – not so good.

DECONSTRUCTED CHOPPED SALAD

4 cups gently packed baby arugula washed and dried

2 cups tomatoes cored and seeded, diced to ½ inch

1 medium English cucumber seeded, diced to ½ inch

1 cup Kalamata olives pitted and quartered

8 ounces firm feta diced to ½ inch

3 cups garlic croutons

Garlic croutons

3 cups sturdy bread (such as ciabatta), cut into ½ inch cubes

1/3 cup garlic flavored extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fined grated lemon zest

Toss bread in olive oil

Bake in 375 degree oven on cookie sheet for 12 minutes until golden. Return them to large bowl toss with zest and salt and pepper to taste.

Dressing

¾ cup good extra virgin olive oil

½ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon chopped oregano

½  – 1 teaspoon anchovy paste

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix in a bowl and let stand for at least 10 minutes for flavors to blend.

Lay arugula on a large platter and artfully arrange, in strips, all the chopped ingredients atop the arugula, sprinkle the croutons. Whisk the dressing together and drizzle lightly over the entire salad. Allow guests to spoon elements of the salad on their plates and drizzle some dressing.

DECONSTRUCTED PESTO PASTA

Large pot with 4 – 6 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. dried corkscrew pasta

½ cup toasted pine nuts

4 oz. coarsely grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves cut into ¼ inch-wide strips

(Keeping the pesto ingredients intact is the reason this dish is considered deconstructed.)

Bring water to a boil.  In a large skillet, gently heat the olive oil and slices of garlic over low heat stirring frequently, until the garlic starts to turn golden. Remove from heat and stir in about ¾ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook the pasta until al dente, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water, drain the rest from the pasta. Pour the garlic and olive oil over the hot pasta and toss. Deglaze the skillet with the reserved pasta water and add that to pasta and toss well. Add the pine nuts and cheese to pasta and toss again until thoroughly mixed. Transfer to a serving bowl. Just before serving, toss in the basil. Pass extra cheese with a grater for those who want more.

Tip: The theme (thread) and elements (pearls) principle can be applied to many life situations.

Genesis 1:1-31 & 2:1-4 … God designed everything! He is in each element.

                   Blessings from JAN KINZEL

SMALL BITES….Adventures in Downsizing.

Jan Kinzel

Where do I belong? …The other day I had a block of undedicated time while sitting at the computer.  Just for fun I pressed the Google Earth site.  I zoomed all over the world!  I began with India because we were going to dinner that night with the last Indian young man from his group to remain here at the hotel.  The others had returned to India over the last couple of weeks.  We had shared many delightful conversations over the months they were here.

I wanted to look at Iceland to see if there were populated places other than Reykjavik – there were, lots of them.  Next, I ‘toured’ the entire Middle East and looked at the total geographical picture of all of the areas which are in such conflict today, and for many centuries before.  I thought about the wars and ways of life in those places and the hardships endured by so many, including our own soldiers who are trying to defend against the tyrannical lifestyles forced on so many people.  I saw all of the straits, mountains, valleys and waterways so frequently on the news these days.

Then I ‘went’ to Europe and ‘visited’ places we had been and places I would like to go.  I thought how wonderful it would be to take a cooking class in Italy or visit the beautiful Greek Island of San Torino.

With Google Earth, you can zoom out and see Earth as a blue marble hanging in space or zoom in and see your house on your street, with your car in your driveway.

As we are prone to do, I zoomed in on myself and thought, “Where do I belong?”  Looking forward is best, but looking back is also a part of the downsizing experience.  I began to miss my ‘old life’.  Have you ever heard someone say, “I just want my life back?”  Another modern expression that applies is, “Don’t go there.”  Living in the moment is the healthy choice.  Cherish the memories and get on with life and all of the wonderful opportunities that are a part of living.

Risotto is the most satisfying dish I cook.  There is a certain contentment in the preparation and eating of risotto.  It is a staple in Italian cooking and as versatile as pasta.  Except for twirling it around a fork, it can be used like pasta as a delivery system for extra ingredients!

Risotto with Mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2 shallots or 1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cups Arborio rice

½ cup white wine

4 – 5 cups simmering chicken broth in a separate pot

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 – 12 ounces or sliced crimini or button mushrooms, sautéed in olive oil and/or butter, seasoned with salt and pepper and liquid drained from them

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat oil and butter in a heavy pan over medium high heat.  Add shallots or onions and cook until soft.  Add the rice and stir, coating each grain with the fat.  Stir in the wine and cook until wine is absorbed by the rice.  Continue to cook, adding 2 ladles of simmering broth.  Stir until the broth is absorbed by the rice.  Continue this process, two ladles at a time, until most or all of the broth is used.  Add salt, pepper  and cooked mushrooms.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.  You will have a creamy and delicious rice dish.  There are many wonderful ingredients and combinations of ingredients to mix into the risotto, but they should all be cooked separately, drained and then added to the finished risotto.  Even if you add other cheeses, be sure to always use the parmesan.

It’s best to cook this dish just before serving. When entertaining, it’s a perfect dish for interactive cooking.  People love to stand around the stove and chat, and they can even help stir.  It takes about 25 minutes.

Tip: Bloom where you are planted.  (My sister, Ruth, provided that one for me!)

Philippians 4:11 … in whatever state I am to be content….

SMALL BITES … adventures in downsizing

Jan Kinzel

Days of Bears and Sunflowers … What proved to be the first step in our downsizing exercise happened about a year prior to the sale of our primary residence.  At the time, I didn’t realize that this was just the beginning.

In 1986 we purchased a vacation home in the Lake Tahoe area.  We enjoyed all seasons in the mountains for many years.  Just as with our primary home, guests enjoyed it with us.  Sometimes a week-end or full week stay served as the “big” auction item for various charity events.   Having that place meant a lot to me, our family and our friends.  With the downturn in the economy, it became the first sacrifice we needed to make.  I could hardly face selling it, so I tearfully signed the necessary papers and then someone else owned my mountain home.

As is usual with vacation homes, it was sold with all of the furnishings.  However, there were some personal items and other things that we wanted to keep.  Once it was sold I didn’t return.  I felt too sad and asked my husband to take the items out that we were keeping.  He did so along with the help of our son-in-law.  The two of them went up to the mountains and brought the “stuff” to our home.  It sat in the garage unlooked at by me for the rest of that year, until I got the word that we now we were going to have to sell our home.

Forced to go through the items and the pain again, I started sorting.  Christmas was looming, funds were short and here was all of that “stuff” that I would not be using any longer.   For Christmas gifts that year, we gave my ice skates to our granddaughter, my winter scene dish place settings to our daughter-in-law and several jig-saw puzzles to our other granddaughter (She’s a puzzle addict like I am).  This prompted us to find Christmas gifts for others in that same family from other garage dwelling items.  Our grandson received a cool anatomy book (He’s interested in a medical career.) and our son inherited our two-moving-boxes-full collection of LPs.  Our son and his family were thrilled with the gifts as were we to have a place for some of our cherished possessions.

You may think that this is the end of the story, but you’d be wrong.  I still, even after a year, had no closure on the mountain home.  As we began planning for our new condo, I decided to use a sunflower motif for the guest bedroom.  I remembered that we had a painting by my mother-in-law of sunflowers.  How cool that would be to have something of hers in our new place.  She has been gone for almost twenty years.  She was a great person and a great friend to me.

When she was in her mid fifties, she decided to complete high school and receive her GED.  She was foreign born and her first language was German.  Along the way of doing this, she took some art classes and discovered that she had a wonderful talent for painting.  One of her art teachers had her class copy famous works of some of the masters.  We hung her “Monet Sunflowers” painting in our mountain home and it got left behind.

My husband contacted the new owners and asked if we could retrieve the painting.  They said we could if they had kept it and they would look for it and let us know.  They weren’t sure because they had done some remodeling on the mountain home and had stored some things in an extra room.  A couple of weeks later they emailed to say that it was there and we could come to their home down here to pick it up.  Last night we did and we have it hanging on our hotel room wall!

It’s still not the end of the story until I tell you how I finally got closure on the mountain home.

I had no prior contact with the buyers but felt ready to accompany my husband to retrieve the painting.  Turns out, Tanjya, a German girl, is just the sweetest person and was happy to meet us and invited us to stop by when we are up in Tahoe.  She also told us this:  They did an extensive kitchen remodel – new counters, appliances – the whole nine yards!  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas a bear entered the home and destroyed the kitchen.  Two more bears also ransacked the house.  Thank God, nobody was in the house at the time.

On the way home from picking up the painting, we marveled at the preservation of Mom’s picture and that the bears didn’t destroy the home when we owned it or were there.  I was finally thankful that we sold the mountain home.  We’ll rent a condo in Squaw Valley next time we go to the mountains!

Tip:  Don’t count God out.

Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to those who love Godand are called according to His purpose.

SMALL BITES … ADVENTURES IN DOWNSIZING

Remember the good old days … TV sit-dramas were fairly decent in content.  The Love Boat which ran from the late seventies to the mid-eighties and Hotel in the early to mid-eighties were popular.  Both of these series had a venue which allowed the writers to create stories about various guests, more or less from the viewpoint of the staff.  Of course, the writers had an unending supply of material as the people would come and go. Because of downsizing, I’m living that experience!  People come into the hotel and into my life. They stay for a while and leave.  New ones come and we all get to share a portion of life together.

I found myself saddened when two of the young men, who had been living at the hotel since we arrived, were returning to India that evening.  There is a group of six – now minus two – Indian young men residing in my ‘neighborhood’.  Some work together and some have jobs unrelated to each other, but they have bonded, taking all of their meals together, seeing the sights the Bay Area has to offer, and forging friendships based on their common situation and heritage.  Chatting with these delightful young men about India and America is an everyday occurrence which I enjoy.

What seemed to be such a frightening step has pleasantly resulted in an enriched life.  Living temporarily in a hotel has brought many fun experiences my way.  Except for the continual search for quarters for the laundry machines, I’d say it’s just about perfect – for now.

MENU

Grilled ‘Tandoori’ Chicken

Spicy Rice

Cool Cucumbers

Nan

Indian Chai Tea

Mango Custard

RECIPES

Grilled ‘Tandoori’ Chicken

Look on the internet for marinade for the chicken and grilling instructions.

Spicy Rice

1 shallot, finely diced and sautéed in 1 teaspoon each of butter and peanut oil

2 cups Basmati rice

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1/3 canned coconut milk

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon yellow curry powder

Toasted coconut flakes

Snipped fresh curly leaf parsley

Bring chicken stock, water and coconut milk to a boil.  Add salt and curry powder.  Stir in rice and bring back to boil.  Cover and cook on medium heat until rice is tender – about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in sautéed shallots, golden raisins and parsley.  Place on rice on platter around the grilled chicken pieces and garnish with toasted coconut.

Cool Cucumbers

4 English cucumbers

2 large Fuji apples

Juice of ½ large lemon

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup plain yoghurt

Peel the cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise.  Remove seeds by scraping a teaspoon

along the seed chamber. Core and peel the apples.  Dice apples and cucumbers into       half-inch pieces.  Toss the apples with lemon juice and place them along with the   cucumbers in a mixing bowl. Chill the mixture. Just            before serving add the salt and             yoghurt to dress the cucumbers and apples.  Serve in individual small bowls.  Garnish     with a dill sprig.

Nan

Nan, Indian bread, is available at most regular markets and comes in different

flavors.  It can be fairly spicy, so look at the ingredients.

Indian Chai Tea

Fill tall glasses with party ice.  Pour Chai spiced black tea (such as Oregon brand) to 2/3             full and top off with vanilla or almond soy milk.  This milk can be found in the       refrigerated case with regular milk.  I like the brand called Silk.  Sweeten with a little    sugar or no calorie sweetener. On a long wooden skewer, thread           a chunk of pineapple, mango and a strawberry and a couple of mint leaves.  Push to one end of the skewer.       Place the empty end down in the drink allowing the fruit to stick up above the glass rim.

Mango Custard

Make your favorite tapioca pudding and stir in a puree of fresh mango before it is set.     Transfer to individual clear glass bowls and chill. Garnish with a mint leaf and a cube of        fresh mango.

Tip: Recognize opportunities to show God’s love to others.  Sometimes the world comes to you.

Matthew 28:19 & 20 ….go into all the world and share the Gospel……