All Things Alicia

Brisket on a Biscuit!

Or, to be more exact, Braised Brisket on a Savory Green Onion Biscuit with Spicy Quick Pickled Radishes.  So yesterday, May 28th, was National Brisket Day.  Today, May 29th, is National Biscuit Day.  You know I'm going somewhere with this.  They make a natural combination!

 

Let me first say that finding brisket was a saga.  I grew up eating it every month or more so I couldn't believe it was so hard to find.  Apparently, most stores only have it around Easter time (at least here in Southern California).  The only one I could find was ginormous.  I mean it.  13 pounds!  I had to cut the thing into 3 chunks and freeze two of them for later.  And it took me laying my two largest cutting boards side by side to even do that.  It was more than two feet long!

Anyway, back to the sandwich here.  When I saw brisket day and biscuit day on the calendar, I just couldn't separate the two.  The sandwich popped into my head and I had to make it happen.  As it rolled around in my brain, I slowly started adding in more details.  Why not a more savory biscuit?  I added in green onion and black pepper.  I contemplated cheddar too, but decided against it.   Feel free to add some on your own though.

Then I thought it might need a little something extra, and that's where I came up with spicy quick pickled radish chips. 

 

So here's how you make the brisket:

 

Start that brisket going first because it takes a long time.  We're talking low and slow here. 

Put a little olive oil in an oven safe heavy bottom dish or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Rub the brisket (mine was 2.2 pounds) generously with Pappy's.  That's just what I have always used.  That link is NOT an affiliate link.  I just wanted you to know what it is.  I grew up using this on tri-tip, london broil, and brisket.  Be generous rubbing down your brisket on all sides.  Then brown it on both sides in the pot you're using.  Add about half an inch of water and cover with foil.  Braise this for about 3 hours at 300 degrees.  Check it every now and then after an hour and half to make sure it isn't going dry (add water if necessary).  It is ready when you can twist a fork in it and fairy easily shred.  Let it rest for 15 minutes before shredding.

Meanwhile, start the radish quick pickles.

 

For the radishes: (adapted from cookieandkate.com)

1 bunch of radishes

3/4 cup white wine vinegar

3/4 cup cold water

3 Tablespoons honey

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

 

Clean the radishes and slice them thin.  Put them in a jar.  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  As soon as it begins to boil and the honey is dissolved, pour it over the radishes.  Let cool enough to put a lid on and refrigerate.  These are best cold on the sandwich.  What you don't use on these sandwiches can be kept in the fridge for a week or two, but they are crispest within a few days. 

 

 

For the biscuits:

 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoons cold butter

1 cup cold milk

1/3 cup green onions, sliced thin (green parts only)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

 

Bump the oven up to 450.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper.  Cut in the butter until it resembles course crumbs.  The less mixing you have to do with these the softer they will be.  Mix in the milk with the minimum mixing needed to get it incorporated.  Gently fold in the green onions. 

Gently pat out the biscuit dough onto a floured surface until about and inch to an inch and a half thick.  Use a round cutter to cut biscuits straight up and down, don't twist the cutter.  I used a 3" cutter on these so they would be bigger for a sandwich. 

Lay, barely touching each other, on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-18  minutes, until golden on top.

 

Ready to assemble this delight?

Open up a hot biscuit and slather on some butter.

Shred the brisket and add enough juice from the pan to keep it juicy, but not enough to get the biscuit soggy.   Lay some on the hot biscuit.

 

Then lay on cold radish pickles.  Put the top on and...Enjoy!

 

Print this recipe:  Download Brisket on a Biscuit Printable Recipe

Gift Card "Basket" In a Frame

Every year my regional PTA does a basket auction to raise money for scholarships.  Each school PTA donates a basket, and for the last two years my school has done a gift card basket.  I use the term basket loosely because gift cards are much more creatively displayed not in a basket.  Last year I put them in a flower pot; this year I strung them across a frame.   It didn't come out quite as I expected since we had so many cards.  I felt like it was kind of crowded; however, it was still nice and was one of the top money generators at this year's auction.

 

My original idea was to make a bunting type banner, but there was no way to display that at the event.  So then I thought I could drape cards on a string in a frame and layer the strings that way.  Right before I was heading to a thrift store to look for a frame to turn into such a masterpiece, I popped into Marshall's (for kitchen stuff of course) and found this frame.  For $12 I got a cute frame that was already filled with a pinnable surface and muslin.  Sweet!

I used hat pins I had on hand, plus linen thread to make the swag lines.  Then I used a small scallop envelope die to cut envelopes for the gift cards.  I sealed them and cut off one end to make a pocket.  I then used various embellishments that were on hand, such as pearls and ribbons, to jazz up the envelopes. 

After clipping the gift cards on with mini clothes pins, I punched paper scalloped circles in paper I had on hand (to make the flowers) and a few butterflies too.

I ended up using some pop dots on the back of the envelopes to keep them from sliding around.  They'll be removable enough to still use the frame afterward. 

I also make a card (forgot a picture) that matched in style to let the bidders know what cards were included and the amounts of each.

I'm pretty sure all of the materials I used were Stampin' Up! except for the papers.  Those were from a stack I got at Hobby Lobby from Paper Studio.  The stack design was called Olivia.

All in all, I think it came out pretty good for 1 hour of work!

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It's National Cherry Cobbler Day!

Sounds yummy, right?  However, while I love cherry cobbler, I am a little more of a cherry crisp kind of girl.  I am also trying to be good...so today I'm sharing with you a Paleo Cherry Crisp I made!  Actually, it's several mini cherry crisps.  Aren't these mini cast iron skillets adorable?!  You could also use small ramekins if you don't have or want mini cast iron skillets.

 

 

It starts with a pound of cherries, pitted and halved. 

*Quick hint- if you're craving this but cherries aren't in season, use frozen cherries!  Just make sure you rinse them after thawing and pat them dry.

To the cherries you will add a pinch of salt, a 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.  Mix well and put into the skillets or ramekins.

 

 

Next mix the topping ingredients: almond flour, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and honey.  Once that is all combined you can add it to the top of each skillet or ramekin. 

 

 

I know what you're thinking here, it doesn't look crazy appetizing.  But wait until it bakes up all golden and dark red.  Trust me on this one.

Into the oven it all goes for 15-18 minutes at 375.  You're looking for browning on that topping and bubbles in those cherries. 

 

 

click here for a printable version: Download Printable Mini Paleo Cherry Crisps Recipe

 

 

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Trying To Organize Myself In A Different Way

I've said before that I wear many hats, as lots of us do.  I am a mother of 3 and a wife.  I left my job teaching to stay home with my kids when I had my first.  I now work at home.  I write curriculum, help at my kids schools (a lot more than I should), keep our home on the path of more and more natural, dream of homesteading (and therefore have crazy goals about money that take up some time), I'm a writing a cookbook, and do the millions of things that happen when you're stay at home mom who wants to eat from the garden. 

 

 

While I love my life, there are times I feel pulled in many different directions and what I should prioritize becomes confusing.  I find that if I try to lay things out in order of priority, I end up never getting to the stuff in some areas and that stuff needs to get done too.  If I prioritize the house and kids above writing curriculum and the cookbook, I never get the writing done.  I've just figured out that I shouldn't necessarily be prioritizing one area over another, but instead addressing the highest priorities in each part on its own.  So I'm currently trying a new way of organizing myself.  I'm focusing more what needs to get done in a month in each area, and then trying to chunk that up into weeks.  Sometimes a week will be a half and half split, but mostly each week has a theme.

The main home stuff stays the same.  Laundry, food, a weekly 1 - hour cleaning routine...that stuff still happens.  But in between those things are chunks of time I dedicate to whatever is on my list for the theme that week.

 

Here's an example in the form of my May goals and how it works out in my blocks:

 

On the homestead:

-Get the rest of the garden planted

-deep clean the kitchen

-make our week by week summer plans (I do these every year)

-Quarterly $ report (I should have done that in April)

 

Curriculum:

-Do regular monthly things (data collection, marketing, etc...stuff I have on a list to do once a month)

-Write root beer float science lab

-Create summer planner freebie for teachers

-Re-make one cover for an existing old product (one of those I made before I knew how to make cute covers)

 

Cookbook:

-continue recipes - try at least 12 more

-Get 67 of my finalized recipes typed

-Begin to develop an online presence

 

What it looks like on my calendar:

I have this margin thing that I just write in after I've made my list.  I break stuff up into the weeks.  This looks different each month.  I don't always spend 1 week in each area.  Right now I'm focusing more on my curriculum (TPT) because school will be out soon and I won't have much time to work on it.  It's the type of stuff that needs to be done without kids around.  However, I can get cooking done with the kids around so the summer months will have more of a cookbook and homestead focus.  The purple in the margin on the calendar below is how I've broken down my focus each week in May.

How I chunk out the work:

This is adapted from the book The 12 Week Year, a book I highly recommend.  I'll likely blog about it in some future post.  It was valuable to me mostly in the motivational aspect.   But this is how it looks after I've tinkered with it.  I'm in week 2 of May, so my focus this week is getting projects done around the house and garden.  These aren't the basic maintenance things that happen every day and every week, like laundry, etc...these are projects or yearly maintenance things. 

I start by taking a blank one of these schedules.  I then put in all the "hard" items for the week.  By hard, I mean things that will happen at a certain time.  I can't change when baseball practice is so that is a hard item.  I can be flexible about when I water the garden so that is not a hard item.  For simplicity's sake, I usually put all the hard items in one color.  I don't color code these, I just choose one color for the week.  This week purple was closest to me so all the hard items are in purple.  Next week it might be a different color.  Choosing a color is not a stress point here.  Just seeing the division between the 'must be at' items and the rest is what I'm going for.

 

Once I have all the hard items, I put in my morning and evening routine times (pencil) and then start to find chunks of time I can work on my list of projects for the week.  I try to look for chunks of about 3 hours.  So in this example, all green items are the major to-dos for the week, coming straight from my list of 'on the homestead' items above.  In an effort to be realistic about the fact that things come up last minute, I get tired, etc...I try to plan in a large rest block and a catch up block later in the week or on the weekend.  That allows me to read or watch YouTube without feeling guilty, and give me a time to finish up something that didn't get all the way finished during its scheduled time earlier in the week. 

I'm attaching a PDF with a blank version of this if you'd like it:

Download Weekly plan blank

I've been doing this for about 6 weeks now.  I have to say, it has given me more balance.  I don't get everything done, and I let go of that expectation a few years ago, but I do feel like I'm moving forward for once in all my goal areas rather than just maintaining.  Does that make sense?  I'm going to try it for at least another 6 weeks before I decide for sure to keep or toss this system, but right now, I don't see it going anywhere.  Moving forward actually keeps me more motivated so I waste less time and enjoy productivity more.

 

 

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A Few Scrapbook Pages to Share

I managed to get back into my craft room for about 2 hours the other day.  I spent some of that time cleaning and some of it finishing some pages I had already started. 

 

 

 

Sorry the video quality is not fabulous.  I used my old iPhone and I might have needed to focus too. 

What craft things are you working on?

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I'm Still Purging

I started more than a year ago purging 100 things a month.  I've kept it up for about 16 months now.  I've only been short of my 100 items two months but most months I've gone over.  You'd think I'd have hardly anything left around here.  But no, I still feel like the clutter closes me in. ;)

I haven't kept as good of track this year, but I have made myself a few notes and taken a few quick pics with my phone.

Here's the run down on what I've gotten rid of in 2016:

January:

Fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas items

a few articles of clothes

trash from kitchen clean out (random toothpick in drawers, mis-matched silverware, etc...)

a purse (I replaced it though)

place mat

cookie cutter

2 sandwich cutters

pot holder

cone shapers

spatula

mommy hook

office supplies (pens, erasers, cds)

make up

hand towels

beach towel

2 small Tupperware sauce containers

cleaned out my deep freezer (didn't count but it was a lot)

 

February:

I cleaned out part of the garage which enabled me to combined stuff to let go of one box and some old teaching stuff.  I also got rid of 5 cleaning rags and 2 cookbooks.

Those boxes above are all empty and going to my mother in law for her up coming move.  Way more than 100 items this month.

 

March: Got rid of so much that it looks like we're moving!

a few pairs of pants

assorted trash from my girls' room

We had a great kids' rooms clean out - most of which I sold at a consignment sale:

tons of kids clothes

20 kids books

3 toys

play kitchen

10 toys went to the trash

 

April:

I cleaned out a cabinet in the kitchen- one of those that ends up being a catch-all for things.  This bag is entirely from that.

and I also got rid of some extra towels, shoes, decorative items and 23 articles of my clothing.

It's been freeing to get rid of stuff.  I look around now don't feel as much fear or sentimentality connected to my stuff.  I'm hoping to get to the rest of my garage in May as well as my bedroom.  I have lots of clothes that are too small and too big, and lots of not bedroom stuff that got dumped there during the holidays.

 

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