Talya Tate Boerner - grace grits and gardening

How to: Chinese Fortune Teller

January 27, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Chinese Fortune Tellers, made from regular notebook paper, provided inexpensive, homemade entertainment for my sister and me, especially on Saturday mornings while Momma enjoyed a wash and set and whatever else she did in the name of glamor at Lucille’s Beauty Shop. Yesterday’s child was easily amused, and the Chinese Fortune Teller was super intriguing. Yes, in the back room of the beauty shop (which was really Lucille’s living room), simple finger movements revealed my destiny according to color and number selection.

Life was easy.

Following the step-by-step instructions HERE, I made a Chinese Fortune Teller, even folding it correctly the first try. Of course I took pictures of my effort along the way because that’s what I do. If you are visual like I am, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

In case you don’t remember the rules (or never knew because you are a youngster…), I’ll explain.

1. Choose one of the four colors. (My colors are pink, blue, green and yellow.)

2. Spell the color moving the fortune teller once for each letter. (Your fingers are inside the slits.) Pink = four movements.

3. Pick a number from those showing on the inside.

4. Count out the number, moving the fortune teller once for each number.

5. Pick a final number.

6. Life the flap and do what it says.

Let me just say, taking pictures with one hand and working the Chinese Fortune Teller with the other is tricky and results in blurry photos.

There are (at least) three different ways to design your fortune teller.

Activities. I made mine with activities (i.e. each flap has an activity—great for a bored kid or a more fun way to assign chores.)

Answers. You can also design yours so that the inside flaps have basic answers to questions (i.e. “yes” “no” “absolutely” “are you crazy?” – think Magic 8 Ball). In this case, before the player chooses a color, he asks a question.

Fortune. Instead of activities or answers to questions, each flap includes a more traditional fortune. “You will soon receive great news.” That sort of thing.

Decorate your fortune teller however you wish (yes, you can add bling) just remember the outside part has four colors, the inside flaps have eight numbers. Underneath the numbers, eight activities or fortunes are written.

Does any of this make sense? Hope so.

Now I must go write a letter. My Chinese Fortune Teller told me to.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Remember when fun meant playing with a Chinese Fortune Teller?[/tweetthis]

“Before you leave, the fortune teller reminds you that the future is never set in stone.”
― Erin Morgenstern

Musical Pairing:

Yesterday’s Child – Roy Orbison

Peking Roast (a Keiser’s Kitchen recipe)

January 24, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Whoa. It’s been a while since I posted a recipe from the famous Keiser’s Kitchen cookbook. (Famous to those who lived around Keiser, Arkansas in the 1970s.) I made this Peking Roast back in November for Game Day when Arkansas shut out LSU. Let’s say that again. “Arkansas Shut Out LSU.” What a perfect Keiser cookbook choice as it was contributed by Ruth Barnett and her son Craig (my like-a-brother best friend) was visiting for the weekend. See the connection?

Do you remember eating this roast as a child? I asked.

No, he said.

So that’s how that conversation went.

This Peking Roast was delicious and simple because while we tailgated, the crockpot did most of the work. We did have to consult with Ruth via telephone because like many of the Keiser’s Kitchen recipes, the ingredients and/or directions are a bit vague per 21st century standards (i.e. add seasonings).

What seasonings?

We decided that meant salt and pepper.

Unlike regular pot roasts, this one has a special ingredient —black coffee. The coffee gives the gravy a richness unlike water or broth. You can eat the meat with potatoes, your favorite side dish or salad, but I shredded the meat and made sliders. Perfect Game Day snack for celebrating a Hog Shut Out.

Peking Roast

Print Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

5 pound rump roast
garlic & onion no measurements provided...
1 1/2 cups strong black coffee
1 cup water
seasonings to taste salt & pepper?
1/2 cup vinegar I used Rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon marjoram

Method

Cut slits through the meat. Insert slivers of garlic and onion into roast. (I used 2-3 spoonfuls of chopped garlic.) Mix vinegar, mustard, bay leaves, chili powder and marjoram. Pour over meat. Make sure it runs down into slits where the garlic and onion have been placed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, place meat in a large heavy pot and well brown in oil on all sides. Pour in water and coffee and simmer on top of stove 4 to 6 hours. (I cooked mine in the crock pot on high for 6 hours. I also added the rest of the onion because why not?) If needed, additional water can be added. Salt and pepper 20 minutes before serving. The gravy may be thickened or left as is.
Great served as sliders with cole slaw!

Try it, you’ll like it. The Keiser ladies were great cooks! Still are, I’m sure.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Ruth Barnett

Here are two other classic Keiser’s Kitchen recipes I’ve tested so far:

Milky Way Cake

Yum Yum Cake

Write more, Love more!

January 21, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Write more, Love more. This tagline is printed on the window of Shindig Paperie in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and what a great tagline it is. My new quest to write 52 letters in 2015 gave me the perfect excuse to visit. This well-curated shoppe filled with all things paper is located downtown just off the square. Downstairs. There’s something about a downstairs business (in a historic building—look at those bricks!) that makes for an intriguing shoppe rather than just another run-of-the-paper-mill store.

Oh my heart did a little flip flop when I walked into this place. (Dallas crafty obsessed friends: it’s like a cozier version of Paper Source at Northpark…)

Cards and paper and pens and calendars and postcards and teeny tiny clothespins I’ve been wanting forever (because certain projects beg for them) and I could go on and on.

LOOK at this notepad I found.

How do I love this paper made by Sugarboo Designs? Let me explain the ways—from the old-fashioned notebook paper it’s printed on to the pre-printed inspirational messages at the bottom. Each page includes a perforated stub. Tear off and scatter into the world as you please...tuck one under a pillow or inside a lunchbox, throw one on a dashboard or sneak it into a pocket, string onto a gift or hide inside a book, roll it up and float it out to sea. Anything is possible – Anything can be!

Neat, right?