Volunteering - Family Style

Yesterday I was on Facebook and in my feed was a plea from our local thrift shop looking for volunteers to help sort and put away donations filling their shop.  I didn't even think about it when I volunteered a few of my kids to go with me to help out.  Later, when I told them I had volunteered my girls to go with me, my sons wanted to come along.  This morning as we were getting ready to head out, my oldest son said he wanted to go with us.  Since he is so busy with work, this was a pleasant surprise.

After spending a couple of hours at the thrift shop we all walked away feeling good about our day and about ourselves. 

We took a lunch break over at DQ and laughed and chatted about how much fun we had and how we can't wait to go back to help some more.

Then over to church.

My oldest went to work straightening up the praise band area from the general untidiness left behind from Vacation Bible School.  While he worked the rest of us found work to do until the church was back in order.  

It was a fantastic day and we all feel great having helped others.  We discussed this and decided to do this at least monthly, if not more often.  

Volunteering warms the heart.

Queen's Day Dinner

In my ongoing quest to embrace my Sweetheart and everything about him; today my children and I celebrated the birthday of Queen Juliana (The late Mom of Queen Beatrix of Holland).  I went through several websites and recipes over the last few days to find the perfect recipe.  My choices were limited if I wanted my eldest daughter to enjoy the meal, since she is a vegetarian.  After discussing it with my Sweetie and reviewing recipes, I settled on Stamppot Sla.  Stamppot is a potato mash and Sla is obviously, lettuce.  The end result was delicious and very simple.  Stamppot Sla is a wonderful summer salad which was quite filling.  I'm sure we'll be eating this dish several times during the warm weather. 

Stampot Sla

    Prep Time: 10 minutes

    Cook Time: 20 minutes

    Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:    

              2 lb Potatoes, peeled and halved

              1 Vegetable stock cube

              1 Head Butter Lettuce

              5 Egg

              1 Tbsp Butter

              1 Tbsp Hand-hot cream (or milk)

              Salt and White Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

In a large soup pot, cover the potatoes with water.  Add a stock cube and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, wash the lettuce thoroughly, spin dry and slice the individual leaves into strips.  When the potatoes are soft, drain them well. Pat them dry and give them a shake in the pot. Mash with a potato masher or ricer. Add an egg, the butter and cream (or milk). Now fry the four eggs in a frying pan, but be careful to leave the yolks runny and intact.  Add some lettuce to the mash and mix it in using a wooden spoon. Season to taste.  

Serve the stamppot on a bed of sliced lettuce with an egg on top.  Pierce the yolk and allow the runny liquid to dribble down the mound. 

Serves 4

Note: I didn't use salt or pepper and the potatoes were delicious.  The vegetable stock seemed to season the potatoes perfectly.