Quick Cooking is a Mind Set

Quick cooking is a mind set, it's not about time. You'll always spend time on cooking, the goal is to make it more time effective and user friendly.

If you're not prepared, you'll never have a "quick" meal, so it's important to do the following:

Plan ahead - Make a menu plan:

I recommend that you menu plan for the month. It doesn't matter how often you shop, it's important to know what you're going to eat. When planning your menu, remember to allow for leftovers. If you cook more than one meals worth of a recipe, you can always freeze it and serve it again later in the month or use it for a night that you don't feel like cooking.

If you menu plan for the entire month, you won't have any overlaps and you'll cut down on your waste factor. Remember that you can always fill in with soup. This is a great way to use up the leftovers in your refrigerator. Cut up the veggies that are starting to look a little worse for wear, add the leftover baked or mashed potatoes, toss in a can of stewed tomatoes and add the "scrappy" looking roast chicken carcass, leftover lunch meat or meatloaf. Just add a little stock and you have homemade soup. Add some hot biscuits or cornbread and you're family will think you're amazing.

Check the pantry and go shopping:

If you keep a well stocked pantry, you'll never be out of the basic ingredients necessary to make a meal. For those days when you're behind schedule, or just forgot to take something out of the freezer, your pantry can save your day. I've given you lists of suggestions for a well stocked pantry on your first cd - you should probably check it out.

Once you've made your monthly menu plan, check your pantry items to see what you're short of. Write your shopping list and go shopping. DO NOT buy anything that's not on your list! If you stick to this, you'll be amazed at how much money you save. A quick tip - leave the kids and hubby at home - it really saves on the grocery bill.

Pre-prepping - a real time saver:

Whether you're shopping for a week, two weeks or a month, pre-prep your meats when you get home. If you don't want to cook all your meat right away, break it down into serving sizes or recipe sizes and then freeze. If you pre-cook your meats, which is what I recommend, place the amount called for in the recipe in freezer containers or bags, label with the recipe name and place them in the freezer. If you'll do this, then you'll truly have a 20-30 minute meal. You can spend 3-4 hours in the kitchen one day cooking all your meat, but it will save you 10-20 hours in the kitchen over the month. You choose.

The only item in your budget that's fluid is your grocery budget. Your monthly expenses are pretty much set; you may find yourself financially short some months due to unanticipated expenses. Where will the money come from? Your food budget. Get ahead of the game, learn how to shop wisely and cook your meals at home. They'll not only be better for you, but you'll be amazed at how much money you'll save.

Enjoy using your kitchens, they're not a surgery center, you don't need a degree to go there, you just need to take a deep breath, strap on your apron and read your recipe twice before starting and don't forget, I'm only a phone call away.

Meats - Practice Makes Perfect

The biggest challenge in cooking meats seems to be overcooking your meats and having them turn out dry, or undercooking your meats and having them turn out raw. Sometimes it’s a challenge to get the perfect in between

My good Friend, Anne Steele, the kitchen manager at Anasazzi Stone in St. George, told me a good trick for testing your meats. Place the pad of your thumb against your pointer finger, forming a teardrop shape. Now poke the “ball” of your thumb with the pointer finger on the opposite hand. The “give” you feel in your thumb is the “give” you’ll feel in meat when it’s “rare”. Now move your thumb to the middle finger and poke the “ball” of your thumb, the “give” is equivalent to the “give” when your meat is medium, move your thumb to your ring finger, the “give” is the same as well done.

Pretty cool, huh? When your cooking your meat, press it with a pair of tongs and you’ll feel the same density of “give” in the meat as you do in your thumb. Practice and you’ll get pretty close to the doneness that you desire in your meats.

Chicken seems to be the most challenging, although an overdone beef roast or steak is, truly, a terrible waste of meat. If you want to be more accurate, use an instant read meat thermometer and always remember that meat will continue to cook after you’ve removed it from the heat, so remove it just shy of what you want your finished degree of doneness to be and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Here’s a meat temperature chart for your convenience:

Meat Temperature Chart (Fahrenheit)
Beef Rare Medium-rare Medium Medium-well Well done	120° - 125° 130° - 135° 140° - 145° 150° - 155° 160° and above
Lamb Rare Medium-rare Medium Well done	135° 140° - 150° 160° 165° and above
Poultry Chicken Turkey	165° - 175° 165° - 175°
Pork	150°

Resting is very important. If you cut your meat immediately, all the juices in the meat will flow out, causing your meat to be dry. Allow it to rest and all the juices will remain in the meat and give you a nice moist, juicy end product.

I’ve given you recipes for “quick meals”. Many of these require you to pre-prep your meats in order to be able to “finish off” your meal within 20-30 minutes. Some forethought goes a long way in keeping your meal preparation time down to a minimum.

I often cook a lot of meat at one time. I usually have in mind what I want to use the meat for; after it’s cooked, I can package it in serving, or recipe, sizes and place it in the freezer. I write on the bag what my intentions are for the meat, thus saving myself considerable time.

If I’m going to grill 2 chicken breasts for dinner, it doesn’t take any longer to grill 4 or 8. You can leave the breasts whole, or slice them before freezing or refrigerating.

When cooking chicken, I usually leave my meat a little shy of done (I do not like raw chicken), especially if the meat is going to be reheated or used in another recipe. If you’ll do this, your meat won’t be overcooked when the dish is fully prepared. If a breast is a little undercooked and I want to use it immediately, I slice the meat, place it on a plate or in a microwave container and microwave it for 30-60 seconds or just till done. You’ll always have perfectly cooked chicken.

Be sure to choose meats, especially with beef and pork, that have some fat marbling, this is essential in having a tender, moist and flavorful cut of meat. Meat that is without marbling will be tough and dry. The fat will cook off, I promise.

Try slow roasting cuts of meat that have a tendency to be tough. Season your meat all over and place it in a roasting pan with the fat side up. This allows the meat to baste while roasting. I start it in the oven about 200 degrees, covered (no added water or liquids). If I’m cooking a 12-15 pound beef brisket, I’ll start the meat 10-12 hours before I want to serve it. Allow it to roast till it reaches “rare” on a meat thermometer, then uncover, turn the heat up to 225 and continue to roast till it reaches your desired doneness. For smaller cuts of meat, the time will be considerably reduced. Just calculate the time against the weight and adjust accordingly.

Poultry and pork can be slow roasted also. It’s a great way to get a head start on a meal and requires very little “hands on” attention. Try it, you won’t be sorry.

If your meats seem bland, try some spice blends, new seasonings or marinades and don’t forget the salt and pepper. If you’re not sure what you like, S&P with some garlic and/or onion powder is pretty safe and always good.

Whether it’s grilling, pan frying, poaching or roasting, spend a little time experimenting with timing and seasoning. The old saying, “practice makes perfect”, really does hold true. Enjoy!

The Use of Salt

Salting your food is very important for many reasons. It enhances the flavor of your foods as well as creating levels of flavor when other herbs and spices are added as well.

Salt will draw the moisture out of vegetables and will also draw out the sugars causing onions and carrots, for example, to taste sweeter, especially when sautéed.

Remember that when you’re making a recipe, you’re starting with separate elements that will come together as a whole. If you salt one element to taste, and add another, which is unsalted, the end result will be altered. Salting as you go is important, but you need to remember to consider what your end product will be and the components of your recipe; for example:

In one of our first classes, you learned about white sauces. You start with equal amounts of butter and flour. “Cook off” your flour and start adding liquids. You may “thin” your sauce with some kind of stock, milk or cream, depending on what the end use will be. If you’re making a cheese sauce, you’ll be adding cheese at some point. You must consider this:

If you use unsalted butter and salt free stock, milk or cream, you’ll need to add salt to your sauce, however, if you’re using salted butter and bullion to thin your sauce, there is quite a bit of salt already in your recipe. If you then add something like Parmesan cheese, which is more salty, you definitely don’t want to add salt along the way. Think of the ingredients you’re using in a recipe. This will give you a good indication of how much you want to salt your recipe along the way. You may have several different components; consider each component and how it affects the whole. There’s nothing wrong with salting at the end, but you’ll need to add salt slowly, taste and allow the food to cook a little to allow the flavors to blend, then re-taste.

I think that salting along the way is a good thing, it actually will enable you to use much less salt at the table, however, always remember that “less is more”. Don’t loose sight of the end results and what ingredients are contributing to the whole.

Pasta, Potatoes, Rice and Beans - important staples in your pantry

As I said at the cooking class, pasta, rice, beans, potatoes, soups and salads are the least expensive things you can cook. Since pasta, rice, beans and potatoes are often added to soups and, sometimes, salads, these are great meals to make when trying to reduce your food budget.

When trying to save money in your food budget, you need to have a new mind set about meats. Americans think of meat as our main dish and pasta, rice, beans and potatoes as sides, you need to reverse that and consider these ingredients as your main portion of your meal and meat as the side dish. We should only be eating 3 ½-4 ½ oz. of meat per meal. That’s a piece of meat about the size of your palm, before it’s cooked.

If you’re concerned about carbohydrates or overly “processed” foods, here’s some information for you: Beans are a great source of protein and fiber; You can always purchase wheat pasta, or make your own, as we did in class; brown rice is a high fiber alternative to processed white rice with a nutty flavor and chewy texture. Just remember brown rice takes longer to cook and doesn’t store as long as white rice, so if you’re buying in bulk, refrigerate or freeze for longer storage. Potatoes are actually pretty good for you, especially if you don’t add all the toppings. Be sure to eat the skin, as in baked potatoes, that’s where most of the nutrients are and sweet potatoes are one of the best foods for you. Check out this link to see the nutritional value of sweet potatoes, I think you’ll be surprised:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2667/2

Tips for cooking pasta:

When cooking pasta, use plenty of water. You want the pasta to be able to move around as it boils and don’t forget to stir periodically. Pasta is done when it has some chew, but is not hard. Do not over cook your pasta.

Always add pasta to boiling, well salted, water. If you do this, you won’t need to add salt at the table. Your water should taste like “salt water”.

Do not rinse the pasta after it’s cooked, just drain and return to the cooking pot.

If you’re adding sauce, add it immediately. The starch remaining on the pasta will thicken your sauce and help it to “stick” to the pasta.

Never oil your water or pasta when cooking. This will interfere with the sauce sticking to the pasta.

There is an exception to the oil; if you’re holding the pasta for some time, add some oil to keep the pasta from sticking together, but be frugal.

Remember that pasta will absorb whatever sauce you put on it, so make sure you have enough sauce to keep the pasta moist. Spaghetti will absorb more sauce than macaroni, such as rigatoni, mustocolli, or penne. If you have less sauce, use macaroni instead of spaghetti, angle hair or fettuccini. Remember that if you’re adding chicken to your pasta, it will absorb sauce as well and allow for that. It’s better to pour the sauce over the pasta just before it’s served instead of trying to hold the dish. When you hold pasta it has a tendency to be dry and gummy, so you may need to re-sauce your pasta if it’s sat for any length of time. If you are reheating pasta, add a little water and reheat in the microwave. Do not over cook.

Tips for cooking rice:

Some recipes tell you to rinse your rice before cooking; this is to reduce the amount of starch in the finished product. I don’t usually rinse my rice. The worse thing you can do to rice is to overcook it. When boiling rice, I suggest you use a good rice cooker. The one I prefer is the Pampered Chef microwave rice cooker. The rice cooks perfectly every time in 20 minutes. The great thing about it is that I can leave it and not worry whether it’s going to overcook or burn.

Seasonings and spices can be added to rice before cooking, which allows the flavor to be absorbed into the rice as it cooks. If you’re adding something like tomatoes, for Spanish rice, be sure to make allowances for the liquid factor when adding the water or you’ll end up with soup.

Rice is a great staple in your pantry and very versatile. It can be used in soups, salads, main dish casseroles, as a side dish or dessert. It can be fried, browned, baked or boiled. Whether using white or brown, it’s something to consider in your pantry.

Leftover rice can be easily reheated by adding a little water to a microwave safe dish, covering and microwaving for 45-60 seconds or till heated through.

Cooking with beans:

Beans are cooked by boiling; after they’re boiled, they can be used in many different ways. Different beans have different flavors and strengths. Pinto beans have a much stronger taste than white beans. You can easily add lentils to your bean selections. These are great for adding protein to your diet without adding a lot of meat. Beans can be used in soups, salads, breads, cakes, cookies, candy and many vegetarian and ethnic dishes. Beans are versatile and are very adaptable. You’ll learn more about beans in the “Food Storage” cooking class in May.

Potatoes:

Oh, what can we say about potatoes? I’ve given you several recipes for making your own fries. Try them oven baked, it cuts way down on the grease and calories.

We’re all familiar with the “baked” potato. Next time you’re baking your spuds, rub them with oil and roll them in a salt and pepper mixture. Bake them on a cookie sheet or piece of foil, unwrapped, and you’ll get a great crispy crust and a great salt crusted flavor that’s wonderful. You could even use flavored salts, such as garlic or mesquite. When I bake potatoes, I usually bake some extra so I can make Pampered Chef’s Baked Potato Soup, one of our favorites (it’s in your recipe file). Because the potatoes are already baked, this soup can be ready in less than 30 minutes.

You know how I feel about ricing potatoes. This is still my new favorite thing. I had a bag of red potatoes a couple of weeks ago which I peeled, boiled and riced. When they’d cooled off, I scooped the potatoes into Ziplock bags and stacked them in the freezer. This is so great, I just pull out a bag, bring it to room temperature, or thaw it in the microwave, add some butter, milk, salt and pepper, and you have “crazy good” mashed potatoes. What’s not to like? My favorite for mashed potatoes is still Russets, Yucon Golds are second and Red’s are my least favorite, but it all works.

You can use mashed potatoes in Suzy’s Cinnamon Rolls – remember how great they are? I also use leftovers to thicken soups, if you have enough you can use them for a base in Shepherds Pie, scoop them on top of a casserole, or mix them with shredded zucchini, a little bread crumbs, egg, seasonings and some shredded cheese, pan fry them and you have some amazing potato zucchini pancakes. I like these best served with a little sour cream and applesauce – oh sooooo good!

Boiled and cubed, potatoes are great in your grandmother’s or mother’s potato salad. Breakfast is great with shredded hash browns or cubed fried potatoes. Potatoes can be use as sides, main dishes or in desserts.

Don’t forget the power, taste and nutrition of the sweet potato. Bake it, boil it, fry it, you won’t be sorry. Use it in a casserole, salad, as fries or substitute it for pumpkin in a “sweet potato” pie (you can use the Libby’s Pumpkin Pie recipe – yummy).

Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, Beans - when planning your shopping list, all of these should be on it. Make sure they're staples in your pantry. If you have these four items on hand, you’ll always be able to make a meal whether you plan ahead or come up with something at the last minute.

I'm always surprised....

It's so funny! I'm always surprised by what the cooking classes choose to be their favorite dish of the night. This month it was the Sunrise Pancakes, both nights. Who would have thought that pancakes would come in ahead of fresh cinnamon rolls, bagels, crazy good bread, biscuits..... need I go on?

Well, I can only say that this is my favorite pancake recipe. It fact, it's the only recipe I use. If you want blueberry pancakes, you could easily add blueberries, just remember to toss your fresh berries in a little flour first, it keeps them from sinking to the bottom and from sticking to each other.

After all the time I spent trying to make sure you had all the recipes, don't you know that I forgot Suzy's Cinnamon Rolls and, you got it, Sunrise Pancakes. As promised, here are the recipes.

Sunrise Pancakes - yields 8

1 C. all purpose flour 2 Tbl. sugar 1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 C. yogurt 1/2 C. water

2 Tbl. butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all wet ingredients together and combine. Making sure not to beat the batter. Combine batter just till the dry ingredients are incorporated. This is best done by "folding" the dry and liquid ingredients together. If you want a lighter batter, which was how the pancakes were prepared for the class, separate the egg whites and whip to stiff peaks then fold the whites into your batter. Cook on a griddle till golden on both sides and not raw in the middle. DO NOT mash your pancakes! After turning the first time and after the bottom has browned, poke a small hole in the top of the pancake with the spatula to see if there is any raw batter. If there is, allow to cook a little longer.

*I usually 3X this recipe, even for my family. This is one of Fred's favorite recipes and he'd eat it 24/7. I always have leftovers, but they're gone by the end of the day.

On Wednesday night, I used "Key Lime Pie" yogurt in the batter and on Thursday night I used "Pina Colada" yogurt in the batter. This is a great way to use up the yogurt that no one seems to want to eat. If I purchase yogurt for the pancakes, I usually buy Vanilla flavor.

Suzy's Cinnamon Rolls

1 Tbl. yeast 1/2 C. warm water 1 Tbl. sugar

Mix all above in a bowl or measure cup and allow to "proof"

1 C. sugar 2/3 C. shortening

Cream sugar and shortening together, then add:

6 beaten eggs 1 C. mashed potatoes 2 c. milk (or powdered milk)

Mix well. Add:

4 C. flour yeast mixture

Mix well & add:

4 C. flour 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Beat till dough is smooth. This dough will be very sticky! Pour into a well greased bowl, turning dough to coat on all sides, cover with a towel and let rise till doubled (At this point you can place the dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and make rolls as desired). Punch dough down and scrape onto a well floured surface (you want enough flour to keep dough from sticking, but not enough to reduce the soft, sticky texture of the dough. Do not knead flour into the dough, just coat the dough so you can roll it. You'll want to treat this dough gently). Roll the dough to a rectangle that's about 1/4 inch thick (you'll probably need to divide the dough in half and roll each half separately). Brush melted butter on dough, sprinkle with (I used brown sugar and cinnamon) sugar and cinnamon. You can add raisins, chocolate chips, nuts (on the Thursday night class, we used lemon drops that had been ground to a fine sugar, in the food processor). If you roll the dough on the "long" side, you'll have smaller rolls, but more; if you roll the dough on the "short" side, you'll have less rolls, but much larger ones - you choose. Slice the rolls about 1/2-1 inch thick (I used my "bench tool", which I recommend to everyone. You should be able to get one from WalMart or from a kitchen store)and place on a well greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise till double, about 20-30 min. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, turning once half way through. The rolls should be beautifully golden brown. Spread with glaze when slightly cooled, or frosting when nearly room temperature.

Note: I prefer to place the rolls far enough apart on the cookie sheet so all sides of the roll are baking. This dough is so soft that it may not bake all the way if it's over crowded in a pan.

I prepared 1/2 the recipe for the cooking classes (I actually used 5 C. of flour when I made the 1/2 recipe, you may need a little more for the whole recipe, but be careful not to make the dough too stiff. It is a very sticky dough). This makes A LOT of rolls, although, they don't last long.

Tip: Remove the rolls from the pan, or at least loosen them while they're still warm. As the rolls and the pan cools the sugar will set up and the rolls will be difficult to remove from the pan. If this happens, place the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to soften the sugar, then remove the rolls.

Enjoy!

Bagels Anyone? Yes!

I found a recipe for bagels in Fine Cooking and decided that it would be perfect for Cooking Class this month. Bagels are something I've always wanted to make, but have been intimidated by.

Well, no longer.

Bagels are NOT hard, you just need to plan ahead. This is the deal with bagels:

1. You start with a sponge and let it sit for 1-2 hours to ferment. If you leave your sponge longer your bagels will be more airy and less dense - I think it's a matter of preference.

2. You mix your starter with the remaining ingredients and knead for 7 minutes. The dough should be very firm. It will not be sticky, nor will the dough be warm or cold.

3. Shape the dough into balls and allow to rest for 20 minutes, covered with a wet towel. This allows the gluten to relax.

4. After the 20 minutes, shape the dough by poking a hole through the middle of the ball with your thumb, place on a parchment lined cookie sheet & spray with "Pam". Spray the bagels with Pam and cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the bagels have room to rise and that they're fully covered.

5. After 20 min. "water test" the bagels. Fill a bowl with cold water and drop in one of the bagels. If it floats, they're ready to refrigerate. Place in the refrigerator for 8 hours and up to 2 days. This is called "retarding" the dough.

6. Retarding the dough is important. The cold causes the dough to rise very slowly which gives you the dense texture of a bagel. After the 8 hours, the bagels are ready to be cooked and baked.

7. Did you know that bagels are boiled? Fill a large pan with hot water and bring to a boil. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Once the water is boiling, add 1 Tbl. of baking soda. Place bagels in the pot, making sure they have room to move around. Don't overcrowd. Boil bagels 1-2 minutes on each side. The longer you boil, the chewier the crust will be. Place boiled bagels on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, turn your tray and bake an additional 4-5 minutes. Bagels should be nice golden brown. If you want to top your bagels, sprinkle them with topping after removing from water and before baking. Remove bagels to cooling racks and cool completely. Store in zip-lock bags.

Extra bagels can be frozen for later use. If you don't want to cook and bake all your bagels at once, you can have fresh bagels over several days and bake what you need. One batch of dough makes about 24 medium bagels. If you're not in the mood for A LOT of bagels, I'd cut the recipe in half.

These are variations I made (if you're adding seasoning & ingredients to the dough, add it to the sponge before adding the additional flour):

• White, Chopped green chiles and Parmesan Cheese, topped with grated Parmesan
• White, topped with grated Parmesan and Sesame seeds
• Wheat (2 C. wheat flour instead of white), topped with Cinnamon Sugar
• White, topped with Parmesan cheese and Roasted Chile & Garlic seasoning
• White, Craisins & Pine nuts, topped with white sugar
• White, chopped fresh pepper, Parmesan cheese & Chipotle seasoning, Parmesan on top
• Wheat, added cinnamon, rolled the boiled bagel in cinnamon sugar after boiling *

*This made a GREAT bagel with crunchy cinnamon sugar crust all over, but you need to bake it on a baking sheet that has sides as the sugar turns to syrup. BIG mess in the oven - not good!

I know that this sounds like a lot of work, but if you break it down, you'll find that bagels are VERY user friendly. The 1-2 hour rise time for the sponge gives you a lot of time to do other things. Mixing the initial sponge takes less than 5 minutes. Mixing the dough takes less than 5 minutes, and 7 minutes kneading time. 5 minutes for shaping into balls and 20 minutes of resting time that you can be doing something else. Poke the holes, another 5 minutes and you're off the hook again for about 20 minutes. Then they "retard". You don't have to worry about anything till tomorrow. It takes about 25-40 minutes to boil 24 bagels, depending on how long you boil and 10-15 minutes baking time. Not too bad.

Give them a try, you won't be sorry. Let me know how you do, I'd love to hear.

Here's the recipe:

Sponge:

4 C. unbleached, bread or all purpose flour

1 tsp. instant or quick-rise yeast

2 1/2 C. lukewarm water

Mix all together in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest 1-2 hours.

Dough:

1/2 tsp instant or quick-rise yeast

4 C. flour (more or less as needed to make stiff dough)

1-1 1/2 Tbl. salt

2 tsp. honey

Mix all together with sponge and knead with dough hook for 6-7 minutes till dough is very stiff and firm but still pliable, satiny and smooth.

Shaping & Boiling:

Vegetable oil spray

1 Tbl. baking soda (for boiling bagels)

toppings:

sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt,

finely chopped onions tossed in a little oil, etc.

If you want to see the full article with pictures, go to www.finecooking.com and type Classic Water Bagels in the search bar.

I've Been Thinking..... it's a dangerous thing.

As I was setting up my display for this month's class, I realized how often I use items that were my mothers or grandmothers. This, in turn, brought to mind a conversation I recently had with a friend about how "aged treasures" are no longer valued today. I'd like to put in a plug for those treasures......

Sharing food with your family and friends is a demonstration of love and the process of preparing recipes will often bring back memories of happy days spent in a kitchen or around a table with a mother, grandmother, friend or relative. It's why we often refer to certain dishes as "comfort food", because the memories bring us warmth and comfort.

As we treasure those memories and recipes, treasure the tools, linens, dishes, etc.... that our ancestors left behind as well. Use them in your life. Share them with family and friends.

Some of those tools may no longer be available, but they definitely had a purpose. Some of the things I have of my Grandmothers, are making a resurgence today, and they're not made nearly as well.

I have a couple tea sets of my Grandmothers. I don't drink coffee or tea, but picture using those dainty little cups and saucers to serve a French Cream or Chocolate Mousse for dessert at a "tea party" with your friends or daughters. How fun would that be?

Those linens that are no longer "pristine" tell a story of use, of families sharing meals and friendship.

Next time you go to your Mother's or Grandmother's home, ask them about the "treasures" they have. Find out the stories behind them. Make them a part of your heritage and share those stories with your children and grandchildren. We don't value anything that we don't understand. Memories are all around us, share them, relive them, preserve them.