Betty Hill's Homemade Jam

Lauren, Aidan and I were invited to dinner at Betty Hill's house in Corvallis. Richard and Kim were visiting, and we all got together for a wonderful dinner of Raclette. The Raclette was so amazing that we didn't stop to take a photo of it.

During our visit, Betty Hill invited me to see her prized garden. It had raised vegetable beds, fruit trees, and flowers. Every year Betty makes home made jam. Her supply from last summer was almost depleted. She gave us Blueberry Jam, Apricot Jam, and Strawberry Jam that she made to take home with us. This morning, I opened the jar of apricot jam and spread it on my English muffins. Betty's jam is exquisite! It is rich in fruit and not very sweet, just as I like it. Betty Hill says many 100% fruit jams on the market are mostly apple with some fruit. Hers is 100% apricots, or 100% blueberries, or 100% strawberries with not other fruit mixed in. This accounts for its richness of flavor and lower sugar content.
Thank you Betty Hill for having us over for Raclette this week and giving us some of you marvelous homemade jam.

Shrimp Portofino - Macaroni Grill on Mother's Day

It' s Mother's Day and I was cleaning off our kitchen billboard and found this photo of Shrimp Portofino at Romano's Macaroni Grill
It's simple to make and delightfully complex and nurturing.
Since I am an unemployed single Lake Oswego Mom, I want this Mother's Day dinner but to be where my son Aidan and I make this wonderful dish from scratch at home.

We have these wonderfully huge Prawns from Uwajimaya's, our favorite Asian market. New Season's Market has Organic cream on special this week for $2.50/pint. If you don't live near a Uwajimaya's or New Season's Market, Trader Joes has good frugally prices on all these ingredients:
1 - 1/2 lb of Prawns
1/2 cup of cream
1/4 cup of roasted pine nuts
1 bunch of fresh spinach (or 1 small bag of salad spinach)
1 lb of Angel Hair pasta
1/2 cup mushrooms - sliced
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Kalamata Olive Oil - or butter
1/2 tsp of dried basil
1/4 cup of white wine
1 tsp garlic paste
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
1 Tbs capers

1) Saute Prawns in garlic and butter until the slightly pink.
2) Brown sliced mushrooms in butter.
3) Start a large pasta pot of water boiling on high heat.
4) In a small saucepan, combine the wine and cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat to medium low. Add the Parmesan cheese. Stir occasionally. Add the capers.
5) When the water in the pasta pot comes to a boil, add Angel Hair pasta, stir until the pasta is completely submerged under the boiling water. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook only for 3 minutes.
6) Wash and drain the spinach.
7) Test one strand of Angel Hair pasta to taste for doneness. Strain pasta when done.
8) In the saute pan, add pine nuts and toast until slightly brown, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
9) Add the spinach, cream and wine mixture to the pine nuts. Cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes, until spinach is slightly wilted.
10) Add the Prawns and stir until coated with the sauce. Turn off the heat, and remove from stove.
10) Pour the pasta into a big pasta bowl. Sprinkle the basil on the Angel Hair and toss lightly.
11) Place the pasta into individual pasta bowls.
12) Spoon the Prawns and cream sauce over the pasta and serve.

Serves 4

Social Security Benefits for Married Couples

I found this great article today on Yahoo Finance:
6 ways Couples can Maximize on Social Security Payouts
I've been unemployed for months now, and recently engaged. I have been pondering what happens with Social Security for married couples. It appears that in these amazing economic times, many people are joining forces.

"Spouses are entitled to a Social Security payout of up to 50 percent of the higher earner's check if that amount is higher than benefits based on his or her own working record. ...

Dual-earner couples who have reached their full retirement age can claim Social Security twice: first as a spouse and later using their own work record. A person may choose to sign up for only a spouse's benefits at their full retirement age and continue accruing delayed retirement credits on their own Social Security record. ...

Example:

1. A man planning to retire at age 70 could claim a spouse's benefit based on his wife's earnings at age 66
   
2. Then claim again based on his own working record when he exits the workforce at age 70.
   
3. High-income couples with relatively equal earnings gain the most using this strategy
4. A former spouse may be eligible for benefits if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. The divorced spouse must be age 62 or older and unmarried. The amount of benefits an ex-spouse claims has no effect on the benefits the worker and her or her current spouse can receive."

Simple Math:
I think this means that if the wife's social security benefits by age 66 are $1500/mo, then the husband can claim up to $750. This gives the couple $2250/mo in Social Security payouts.

At age 70 the husband then starts his Social Security claim which pays more than if he started it at age 62 or 66. earn a higher monthly amount. If he is entitled to $2500/mo by waiting until age 70:
$1500 + $750 + $2500 = $4750/mo in Social Security payouts for the couple after age 70.

For those of us whose mortgages are not paid off by the time we reach age 70, this is good news!

Please send in comments and clarifications on this blog post. Let's get a discussion going!