Fed, Frugal, and Fly

Just recently a reader asked me"so what exactly is a rationista?" and with that question I realized that I never fully explained why my blog's name is so bomb, and what inspired it. The term rationista is the combination of a frugal housewife and a fabulous urbanite. During World War II, housewives were budget crunching, working, cooking on rations, and looking fabulous all at once, and coming from a working class family that values both good food and mad style, I figured a blog that revived a dying domestic art and an already thriving industry should have a name that does it justice. So came rationista. Rationed food and fundage and fly clothes on the cheap.

Rationistas make and find what they need. They cook with love and look fly doing it.

What? You want examples?

Well, just recently my fridge was fresh out of english muffins. So what was a rationista to do? use five bucks worth of gas to get to Wal*Mart and buy five dollars worth of mediocre english muffins, or take it as a challenge and make my own. Ch-ch-ch-challllllleeeeenge!


Alton Brown's english muffin recipe is totally a winner

• 1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 envelope dry yeast
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• Non-stick vegetable spray
• Special equipment: electric griddle, 3-inch metal rings, see Cook's Note*

Directions

In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F.

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using #20 ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.

*Cook's Note: Small tuna cans with tops and bottoms removed work well for metal rings.

I like to think that as a rationista, it's my job to keep hungry family and teenagers fed, and their eyes satisfied. lol

Kid Stuff

There's a first time for everything, and let's face it, at my ripe age of sixteen, first times are where it's at. This year I drove for the first time, got my first bank account, and got my first car. In nine days I'll even be allowed to drive all by myself! Can you remember the first thing you did all by your self?

All by myself.

What kid doesn't want to be independent. When you're a kid, you just want to get dressed, eat, walk to the bus stop, all. by. yourself.

The first time I did anything significant all by myself was at the not-so-ripe age of nine. I made oatmeal cookies from my mom's old Good Housekeeping cookbook. Classic right? It just might be the easiest recipe in the world, a good catalyst for and addiction to baking like mine, I gotta say.
I got all my ingredients out on the counter, I preheated the oven like the book said, and I even operated our dinosaur but trusty hand mixer. Things got wild with the mixer, but in the end I did something, everything to make those cookies all by myself.



Good Housekeeping Oatmeal cookies

1 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup California walnuts
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Into large bowl, measure all ingredients. With mixer at medium speed, beat ingredients until well mixed, occasionally scraping bowl.
Drop by teaspoonfuls, 1 inch apart, onto cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. With pancake turner, immediately remove cookies to wire racks; cool.


I guess I'm a big kid now, but I'll never forget my first time.

Saucy Lady

There's very few things I can honestly say I hate.
1. I hate techno music
2. I hate V8 Vegetable juice.

See? that's just about it. But those two things that I do hate, I despise, loathe even, quite passionately. We'll talk about techno another time. But V8... oooooohhhh V8. I hated that stuff from the get. But, I have given it multiple chances, and it has kicked me in the mouth every time.

Yesterday I gave V8 one more chance to prove itself useful, and boy oh boy did it!

I've been wanting to make 'Saucy Susans' from my prized Betty Crocker cookbook for weeks now, but it wasn't until recently I felt bored/motivated/inspired/hungry enough to make them. So on the fly I scanned the cabinet for the required canned tomato juice, but lo, there was none. I knew what had to be done. I looked in the other cabinet to see my mortal enemy staring me in the face. It was on. So without a hitch or a fight with V8, I made scrumptious Saucy Susans and scarfed one in fron of the television.


So, let's get saucy!

Saucy Susans

Sift together:
2 cups all p. flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt

Cut in finely:
1/4 cup shortening

Stir in (to make soft dough):
3/4 cup tomato juice

Round up on lightly floured cloth covered board. Roll or pat out dough 1/3 inch thick. Cut. put biscuits together in pairs with a round slice of cheese between. Place these double biscuits close together on ungreased pan and bake at 450 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes. Serve hot.

Bring it on, techno.

Harem if You Got 'em

I vowed I would never wear harem pants. I think they're pretty heinous and ridiculous. I mean, MC Hammer was fly, but the pants were not.

But, in case you haven't already noticed, I really like to have a sense of humor in the way I dress. I love to be ridiculous. So, when a pair of raspberry Silence and Noise Harem pants were on sale at UO, I pounced. The result? A bangin' outfit with a waaaay cheap price tag.

Silence and Noise pants, Adidas sneaks (like 5 yrs old), target clearance bag, Barbie shirt (a gift from my homeboy Josh... Shout out!)


Stop! Harem Time!

'I ride around town on my low-rider bicycle'

Boy, the Beastie Boys sure knew what they were talking about.
Few things are better than cookbook shopping after school on a Friday afternoon. My school is like, a two second bike ride away from my favorite bookstore, and with convenience like that, why not go slow riding on your off period?

But, this post is not meant to rub my Fridays in your mug, it's for showing you these:

I scored these bad boys today at Coas, (totally bomb used book store) after I scoped them out yesterday on my quick stop after school. The first book is The Joy of Cooking By Irma S. Raumbauer. As soon as I laid eyes on it I knew it was going to be mine. All of my good nature and inhibitions were immediately out the window, and for some reason I was fully prepared to throw some elbows and break faces just for that book.
I know what you're thinking, "What a freak!" But this cookbook is special. It is the third edition of the 1931 book, but reprinted and re-edited for the cook on WWII rations in 1943. Because of this, the book cost $32.50. You see why I was ready to bash some faces?

The second book is the first edition of the 1964 Seventeen ( yeah, like the magazine) cookbook. Super groovy right!? The book is made for the young hostess, the culinary 'tard, and the purist, all in one teen oriented mod package!

Even better than these books, is the price they came for. At Coas, you can earn store credit by bringing in books, and I just so happened to have enough cred to get both book for a cool $28.00.
How's that for rations!

Two fab books and a weekend well spent? $28.00
Breaking faces for the cookbook of all cookbooks? Priceless.

Bake-a-Thon

Yesterday I got to bake in bulk.

Ya' see, my mom is catering for a leadership summit at a local church, but she was in need of some baked goods that did not come from a plastic box at Sam's Club. So who did she bestow the privelege of baking for the masses on? Moi of course! And I was super stoked to do it.

The menu was simple and delicious. Today the summit-ers had pulled pork sandwiches on sweet potato rolls for lunch, a mid morning snack of honey orange muffins and brownie bites, and blondies for an afternoon snack. Tommorrow they're having a peach slab pie courtesy of my momma.

Wanna bake in bulk? I dare you! It's a blast.

Blondies ( Smitten Kitchen)

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar - beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (I added semisweet chocolate chips and pecan halves/bits).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls (Pinch My Salt)

1 cup mashed sweet potato or yam, slightly warm or at room temperature*
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 – 7 cups bread flour

1. In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together mashed sweet potato, buttermilk, egg, butter, sugar and yeast. (I learned the hard way that it is best to whisk these ingredients by hand rather than using the mixer. I ended up with buttermilk splattered all over the kitchen when I tried using the paddle attachment!) Now let the mixture sit for a few minutes while you measure out about 7 cups of flour.

2. Using the paddle attachment for your stand mixer, stir in one cup of flour along with the salt. Gradually add more flour, about a cup at a time, until a soft dough begins to form. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook (use a wet hand to pull the dough off the paddle attachment and it won’t stick to you) and knead on medium speed (speed 4 on the kitchen aid) for 6-7 minutes, adding a little more flour as needed to make a moderately soft dough that mostly clears the sides of the bowl (the dough should eventually clear the sides of the bowl, but continue to stick to the bottom as it’s being kneaded). My dough took about 6 1/2 cups of flour, but yours made need less or more. If mixing and kneading by hand, dump the dough out onto a floured surface when it gets too hard to mix with a spoon. Using well-floured hands, knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to work surface and hands.

3. When you finish kneading, the dough should be moderately soft and tacky, but not sticky. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form a smooth ball of dough. If you kneaded by hand, form the dough into a smooth ball. Cover dough with a towel, and clean out your mixing bowl. Spray the inside of bowl with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter or oil. Place ball of dough, smooth side down, into the greased bowl. Turn the dough over to grease the other side, then cover with the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Put bowl in a warmish place and let dough rise for a little over an hour or until it has doubled in bulk.

4. When dough has doubled (you can check by pushing your finger into the dough. If an indentation remains without filling in, the dough is ready to go), push it down with your fists to deflate it and dump it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half with a knife or bench scraper then cut each half into 8 equal pieces (or more if you want smaller rolls). Cover pieces with a towel and let rest for a few minutes before shaping. While dough is resting, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and move two oven racks towards the center of the oven. Also, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Shape rolls by rolling against the work surface or between your hands to form balls. I like to pull the skin taut over the top of the roll and pinch at the bottom to form a smooth roll, but use whatever method works for you. Divide the rolls between the two baking sheets, and cover with a towel. Let rolls rise for about 20 minutes then remove towel and sprinkle the tops very lightly with flour. Place baking sheets in preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are puffed and lightly brown. Rotate sheets halfway through baking time (move bottom to top and vice versa).

5. Let rolls cool slightly and serve immediately. Or, if making ahead, let rolls cool completely on wire racks then place in Ziploc bags. To reheat, wrap rolls in foil and place in 375 degree oven for a few minutes until heated through.

Honey Orange Muffins (My girl Betty Crockerrrrrr!)

Sift together in mixing bowl:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:

1/4 cup soft shortening ( I used butter)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

Place in bottom of each well greased muffin cup 1 tsp. honey, then a thin slice of unpeeled orange, cut in quarters. Spoon batter on top. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20-25 mins. Serve orange side up. Makes 12 sized muffins.

Make that a triple dog dare.

I Make it Rain

Naw, this post isn't an ode to crappy raps, but to summer monsoon accessories.
My wellies are my pride and joy. I got them for my 15th birthday, and could never part with them. They are the all purpose boot, and these days they come in every super cute color and print imaginable.
Somehow, some way, every time I wear my wellies, a storm manages to come. Usually I just wear them around the house and use them for backyard debauchery, but when I wear them in public, I have to be in the mood. When that mood strikes, so does the lightning!


Now watch Weezy try and make it rain like I can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dPjONDN3ZI