{bits & pieces}
If you are the winner of our giveaway of the lovely Stella Maris print from Jubilate Designs, an email has made its way to you! If you are wishing you had won, here’s your chance! Jamaica is running a sale through Monday, Aug. 17th. All prints are 20% off and the Stella Maris is restocked!
In other news, I finally decided to stop dabbling in making mayonnaise, on and off over the years, and finally commit. I probably shouldn’t have chosen a week when Deirdre and her family were gone to make a double batch, but I have found that it keeps in the fridge very nicely, so it’s okay.
The main thing is to know what ingredients are going in there. Since even the olive oil version of the nicer mayo has soy oil, and I am not made of money, I’m getting serious. Using my trusty immersion blender* and a wide-mouth quart jar makes it all super easy and low-clean-up.
*Mine is really old and seemingly not available anymore in its exact model, so you are on your own. I think the advice to get one with a cord still applies (unless you can tell me otherwise) — the battery-powered ones are just not strong enough. Yeah, the cord is annoying.
I’m using the recipe from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook — doubled, be forewarned — but it’s basically as follows, for about a quart of delicious and stable mayo (but it calls for boiling water to be added at the end and I leave that out — one Tbsp, two in the doubled one here if you want to know)*
*And here we have a good example of why I’m not sure that anyone should follow my recipes, but I feel compelled to give them anyway
Mayonnaise
2 whole eggs (if you are using a food processor, the recipe calls for 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks — remember, this recipe is doubled)
3 Tbsp cider vinegar (this vinegar has a higher acidity than wine or rice vinegar; the final product tastes like it should in your mind)
1/2 tsp salt (don’t be stingy though)
1 tsp dry mustard or 2 tsp dijon mustard (next up, making my own dijon mustard)
2 cups oil (I prefer to use peanut oil; the time I used extra-virgin olive oil, I didn’t actually like the taste, and I’m not sure other oils are stable enough)
Put the first 4 ingredients in the jar with 1/2 cup of the oil. Blend and then begin adding the rest of the oil slowly. I’m far too hasty to do the “one teaspoon at a time” thing and it’s fine.
If the oil starts collecting on top, pause your adding and work the blender up and down within the nascent mayo until it is incorporated, then continue.* As you get to the end of the oil this will actually happen, but do as I say and add it all without losing your nerve — the oil is what gives the mayo its body so you can spread it and work it into slaw and so on.
*Immersion blender pro-tip: Always keep it immersed. If you lift it up out of what you are blending, it will spew oily things everywhere!
I tend to err on the side of a little more salt, vinegar, and mustard. And that is it!
bits & pieces
What if I told you it’s a good thing (albeit painful for now) that schools aren’t opening up?
This writer is edgy but she gets her point across! “Perhaps some fresh madness will take its place, but still: the future will arrive. Your future… Which is why you need to have a baby. Or have another one. Start tonight!”
An interesting explanation of why in the ancient rite, the Gospel is moved to the north side of the altar (not a matter of “right and left”). These observations resonate with then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s explanation of why the celebrant ought to face East (or “liturgical East”) for the Mass (not “towards God” or “towards the Tabernacle” per se) — an explanation that is bolstered by a passage from a homily by Origen that is in the Divine Office readings.
It’s still hot! Make your own backyard water park! (I doubt the water blob would really work, but if you succeed, let me know!)
It’s important to have context for your data.
from the archives
IMPORTANT PANDEMIC INFORMATION: If you can’t host a real baby shower for your dear friend or sister or daughter, due to you-know-what, do a virtual one! Deirdre orchestrated one for Rosie when she was far from us, and Rosie posted about it: Showered from Afar
I’ve gotten a fair amount of messages about “what the normal homeschool day looks like” — thought I’d pop this post in here: Five quick answers about homeschooling from my friend Therese
Are you making learning to read too complicated?
liturgical year
It’s the glorious feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary!
follow us everywhere!
Stay abreast of the posts when they happen:
I just share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
If you want politics, rants, and takes on what is going on in the Church:
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow — my posts are public — sometimes I share articles here that don’t make it into {bits & pieces})
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest. Bridget’s Pinterest.
And the others on IG: Rosie’s Instagram. Sukie’s Instagram. Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
