Time for reporting in! Remember our December challenge/contest – you do a random act of kindness during the week and then you share it with us via your comment on today’s blog. I know it feels weird to report something that you did out of the kindness of your heart and not for any “glory”. But I can’t tell you how many people emailed me last year to say they were “so motivated by the comments on the RAKS, that they went out and did xyz as a random act for someone else.” The purpose of sharing them here is to 1) encourage others to go out and do likewise, 2) to give others new ideas to try, and 3) to get your name in the drawing for the weekly prize. (Ok, #1 & 2 are the main reasons.) I’m looking forward to reading about your week. We’ll do the drawing on Monday for this week’s winner. (If you didn’t commit an act bless someone with a random act yet, you still have time. You can leave comments up until the time I write Monday’s blog and draw the winning name.) And remember – we’re doing these each week in December, so I hope you’ll be ready to share another one on next Friday’s blog.
Today’s recipe is my favorite sandwich. I have tried different variations of this recipe, and this one, with the combination of toasting the bread and baking the sandwiches, is definitely the best. Enjoy!
Monte Cristo Sandwich (not a diet version, but ohhh, so good)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 Tbl. Dijon mustard
8 slices white sandwich bread, slightly toasted
8 slices provolone or swiss cheese
4 slices cheddar cheese
8 thin slices deli ham
8 thin slices deli turkey
Raspberry Jam
Vegetable Oil
Powdered Sugar
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk eggs, cream, sugar, salt, dry mustard and cayenne in a shallow dish. Stir jam and Dijon mustard together in another small bowl. Spread 2 tsp. of the jam mixture on 1 side of each slice of toast. Layer on top of 1 slice of toast:
1 slice swiss/provolone
2 slices ham, 1 slice cheddar
2 slices turkey
1 slice swiss/provolone
and then top with another piece of toast, jam to the inside. Make sure that the meat and cheese are trimmed to fit inside the bread. Press down lightly to make it all stick together.
Pour 3-5 Tbl. oil into a rimmed baking sheet and preheat in the oven for about 5 min. (Just until it starts smoking lightly.) While it is heating, dip each sandwich into the egg mixture, making sure it is covered with egg on the top, bottom, and all 4 sides. Set on a plate until the baking sheet is ready. Transfer the sandwiches to the hot baking sheet when ready, and bake until golden brown on both sides (about 4-5 minutes per side.) Sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar and serve immediately with extra strawberry jam.
Sheri ImadethoseoverThanksgiving&nowIwanttomakethemagain
For the holiday season this year, we are making a point to purchase a holiday food bag for the less fortunate each time we go shopping at our local supermarket. Each year before Thanksgiving and Christmas, the store bags up a few items needed for holiday dinners and places them near the cash registers so people can just grab one and pay for it with their groceries, and then they have a big barrel at the exit in which to place them. It costs so little, but it means that a less fortunate family might have a nice dinner for the holidays!
Oh my…Monte Cristo sandwich recipe…my ABSOLUTE favorite…especially with raspberry jam for dipping!
one of the guys I work with left his lights on in his car and so I went and told him. I called him at first but he wasn’t answering his phone so I paged him, and then I found him at his desk just not answering. So I had to hunt him down. 🙂
My RAK – I do this in many places. I park out, away from stores all the time. On my way in, I collect the randomly left shopping carts and either secure them in the cart storage areas or take them back to the front of the store. I have been doing this all year. I am trying to not only protect cars from getting dinged up, but also I saw one cart careening out of the parking lot into a parkway full of flowing traffic. I was not close enough to catch and fortunately, cars hit their brakes and didn’t hit it. I plan on keeping up with my cart collecting in the future….
Last w/e I made a huge bucket of turkey stock from 2 large turkey remains, and on Tues made a large turkey, vegetable, rice soup. I packaged some of it up into 3 2-portion containers and took it to my elderly (mid-to-late 80’s) neighbors to enjoy now and freeze for later. On a cold Maine night, there is nothing like a hot bowl of soup!
This is my first post to SHari’s blog. My RAK this week involved my whole family. We were at our local playground and park oN wednesday and went for a walk in the woods. My husband (an eagle scout) and my 4 year old daughter started to pick up random bits of trash that were littered. We ended up not only filling a plastic bag we found in the woods, and the bottom of our peg stroller, but also rolled out a tire that someone had dumped in the woods (don’t ask me how it got there). It made a pleasant walk even better. Hope everyone has a great weekend, Elise
Like many, mine did not seem so much of a RAK, but I’ll tell it anyway.
I live in the same town as my cousin, who is 14 years younger. I don’t seem him as often as I like, but we try to meet every couple of months for lunch. This one in particular was special. First I bought his lunch – we usually go dutch. We talked, him very candidly, telling me about all he has been thru since October – he has had some serious issues with Alcohol, been in detox for 4 days, and is in a rehab program and seeing a psych and all that goes with that. He can never have another drop, ever. He has anger issues (which runs in the family). I feel for him, because he just turned 21. I was able to give him a listening ear, and support, and told him again, if you need anything, just ask, or come over for dinner – the only thing I won’t do is bail anyone out of jail 🙂
I was very impressed with his grasp of what all this means and changes he needs to make. I reinforced that I am here if he needs anything. Before we parted, I gave him a big hug that he returned – we are not huggy people by nature… but I wanted him to know I care.
Now the whopper – afterwards, I called his mom, my aunt, to let her know that he is doing well and is on track and all is as good as can be for now…. He is not talking to the parents. I know that if I were to deliver the info in person, I would have gotten a great big hug. I also gave him a T-bone steak for T-giving dinner from our half a cow in the freezer.
I donated some money to an orphanage in India that was in need of more cots. Like someone else mentioned, I also work to make sure people keep their dogs on leashes (part of the lease agreement in our apartment complex) and clean up after their dogs – I never thought of that as a RAK before.
Since I work from home, I was worried I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do a RAK this week, until last night. I don’t know if this counts, but here goes.
We were downtown for the city tree lighting, when I needed to use the ladies’ room. I was waiting my turn when a lady and her daughter came in, daughter crying. She had cut her finger on the shrubbery (roses) out near the tree. Her mom was rinsing it off when I leaned over, and asked, “Would you like a band aid? I think I have one.”
While looking for the band aid, my turn to use the restroom came up, and I told the person behind me, “Go ahead,” and located the band-aid, apologizing for it being a Backyardigan Band-Aid (why yes, I am a mom of a toddler).
Writing this up, I wonder which was more random–the band aid offer, or the not holding up the line to help someone else out. All involved thanked me, even the little girl stopped crying to give me a gracious, unprompted thank you.
Then the Universe told me I did a good job by having my favorite holiday song on the speakers immediately after that. *grin*
This does feel odd, to say “I did….” but here it is! I helped a man on crutches get his groceries up the stairs to his apartment. I’t’s a real eye-opener how difficult it is to do basic day-to-day chores when you are hopping around on crutches.
My RAK this week: I have a friend who recently bought herself a new flat, and she’s been in the middle of moving her things and buying all the new stuff she needs. There’s just one problem – she doesn’t have a car – but I do! So this Monday I went with her to IKEA to buy some furniture and other things she needed, loaded the car and drove it home to her flat.
It’s nice to help someone out! 🙂
Today, I put up my birdfeeders and picked up some suet cakes to put out as well. It doesn’t feel very random to me, but I bet it does to the birds (and the squirrels)!
I try to be nice to the strangers I interact with (lots of them – this is New York City) so this week I helped a frail seeming woman carry her heavy bag up the subway stairs. But I’m wondering, does the absence of an unkind word also count as a RAK? Does it count if you bite your tongue when tempted to criticize?
I have the unique opportunity to do a RAK every day, and that was my goal this year.
I teach math on my own time to students who can”t afford a tutor and today, I bought supplies for a student whose father was laid off and couldn’t afford them. I also bought socks and shoes for another student.
I filled 3 wishes from the RAK group on ravelry. Sending along fibery goodness to those in need was fun!
My RAK for this week was taking a songbook to my mom’s nursing home and playing through the entire thing on the piano in the Dementia ward, hoping it would bring some folks some happy memories with the old songs.
BTW, I can’t see any mention of the measurement for jam to be mixed with the dry mustard in the recipe. Do you just slather it on to taste?
I shoveled a neighbour’s driveway (and I’m starting to think I should do so again – we’ve had a foot of snow overnight).
That sandwich looks delicious! I’m going to have to make those this weekend, I think.
I also have to say that all these RAKs are so very inspiring. It’s nice to know that good, generous people are still out there. It’s easy to forget that sometimes. 😀 I can’t wait to read next week! 🙂
My RAK this week was kind of a two-fer. We have a candy dish at work that we usually order something like Nips or something to put in it, but every once in a while, people who come up for candy usually grumble about wishing they had some chocolate. I was at Target, and they had Kisses on sale, so I bought a bunch of bags to dump into the candy dish at work! And while I was at it, I saw some Candy Cane kisses that were PERFECT Loopy Colors, so I sent them to Loopy Central. hee hee.
I have a RAKIP (Random act of kindness in progress), but I can’t mention it here in case the recipient of the RAK reads all of the comments!!
The RAK’s are one of my favorite things about this blog! I am actually in the process of knitting some “titbits” for a friend who had a masectomy a while back. My other good friend is spinning the yarn for them so they will be super soft. As soon as they are knit, they will go out in the mail for her. So, that’s my RAK.
I’m enjoying refreshing the page to see everyone’s RAKs. It’s a great way to improve a crummy mood.
My own RAK involves some lab supplies. Our company is shutting down my old office building, which includes a lab full of glassware and equipment. There’s no need for the supplies anywhere else in the company, so it was all slated to be thrown out. I’ve been working with different school boards and people involved in charities to find someone who’d like to take some or all of it as a donation. It’s turning out to be a much more complicated task than I’d thought it would be, but I can’t bear to see something so valuable be wasted.
Thanks to everyone for sharing!
I knit a pair of gloves for my son’s teacher and gave them to her on Monday when the high was 40 degrees (freezing cold for Alabama)
My AK wasn’t so R. I took care of my 29 year old DS Tuesday when he had his wisdom teeth removed. Of course, he didn’t think he’d need much help. Just drive him and get his prescription filled. Well, I spent the day with him and made 3 trips out to pick up gauze, soft food, tea bags, meds, etc. I reassured him that his lip was still there even though he couldn’t feel it:-) I kept the ice packs on him and let him know the bleeding was normal. I was really glad to help him out and it was probably the most time we’d spent together – just the 2 of us – for years.
Thanks for all of the ideas! I completed my RAK this morning. I work at an academic library and do lots of teaching in 50 min blocks. One of our professors had to leave town for a family emergency, so I volunttered to teach her class while she was out of town.
I let a frazzled woman with 2 children go in front of me in line at the grocery store. I didn’t have that much stuff but she looked like she really needed to get out of there!
I called the local evening newspaper to let them know that the additional account they recently gave to our carrier (an 8th grader, walking in the dark) causes her to walk much farther up our road and was dangerously near a light and turning lanes. It is also on an adult’s driving route but I’m guessing that they don’t want to do it because it is so near a light and dangerous to stop. Get that logic?? They haven’t changed her route yet so I guess that makes it a RAKIP (see comment above) since they haven’t heard the last from me!
I am knitting a hat/gloves for my husbands secretary who will find out over the holidays whether or not she has cancer. Positive thoughts please!
I bought the change from a fund raiser so that the bank teller doesn’t have to count it or mess with the change machine. It’s not much but you people inspire me to try harder next week.
My RAK is short and sweet. I was waiting in the Dr.’s office this week for an appointment. I never go anywhere without sock knitting, so I was knitting away on a sock that I had just begun the day before. I noticed an elderly woman watching me, so I asked her if she was a knitter. She said she hadn’t knit in a long time due to the financial problems her family is currently experiencing. She can’t afford yarn or needles. So, I simply handed her my entire knitting bag (says Loopy Ewe on it, of course!) and told her to have fun. Inside was a set of KP Harmony DP’s, 2 skeins of Trekking XXL, a DP holder, scissors, etc. All the things I carry around with me wherever I go. At first she wouldn’t take it. But, after I convinced her that it would make me so happy to see her knitting again, she agreed. When I came out after my appointment, there she was, still waiting for her husband, knitting on the sock I had started.
An elderly church member called me and asked if I had any #7 needles. She has arthritis, and had pretty much given up knitting, but she wanted to knit some booties for a new grand-niece. She knits with straight needles, so I sent straight #7s to church with DH, as I was still recovering from surgery. She was sure they were on loan, but since I’ve gotten used to using circulars, I urged her to keep them. You’d have thought I gave her a whole Knit Picks set! Such a simple thing, that I really didn’t miss, and it made her so happy.
There is an older woman at church who had a stroke, went into the hospital and is now in an assisted living home. She doesn’t have any family except for a cousin who lives across the states. I have been visiting her in the assisted living home every week since she has been there (about 6 weeks ago). I try to go once a week. I really don’t feel like this is a RAK because I have come to find that I look forward to going and visiting her every week.
Mine are pretty minor. One of my friends/coworkers needed some stuff from the drug store and wouldn’t have time to go and get it, so I went there on my way to rehearsal and bought the stuff for her. It’s just a little thing, but the two of us are stupid busy so it was nice to do something small for her.
Thanks, Sherri, for letting people share!
Last Saturday I was on a long (6 1/2 hour) flight from Chicago to Anchorage and I was knitting a pair of green and white Scandinavian snowflake mittens. The young lady sitting near me started asking about how long it took to make them, if they were warm, etc. I learned that she’s from southern Texas, and her husband was in the military and had been stationed in Alaska, and she didn’t know much about cold weather and was worried. I talked with her about cold weather activities and how to dress to stay warm and about the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program where she could learn ourdoor skills and how to actually have fun in the winter. Then she mentioned that her husband had already served three tours in the middle east and had just received word that he was being deployed to Afghanistan. I asked what her favorite color was and cast on a pair of mittens for her which I’m mailing to Anchorage. I don’t look at it as a RAK, but more of a miniscule payment for what she and her spouse have given to our country.
The company I work for was taking volunteers to ring bells for the salvation army in downtown St. Louis today. So I spent an hour of my afternoon ringing bells in the cold cold weather. I was just lucky that I decided to wear a nice pair of handknit socks today so my toes didn’t get too cold. I don’t know if I would consider it a RAK or not but I felt good to be doing my part.
This is kind of an ongoing RAK that I do. I am a sucker for making donations…St. Jude’s, Habitat for Humanity, Diabetes research, breast cancer research…just about anything, even if it’s only $20. Also, something I try to do more during the holiday season is to over tip waiters and waitresses. They don’t get paid a whole lot and rely on tips, so I try to give them extra at this time of year.
I know it’s not much but I washed all the dishes and the linens from our church’s pot luck last week. It wasn’t my job but the people in charge had a lot to do.
I don’t feel that my RAK are much, But I’ve been reading yours & feel the need to share. I’m currently being extra nice to my boss. His FIL died yesterday & his Mom is waiting to see if she will need heart surgery. So I bought lunch today & made sure he ate before having to arrange the funeral & other stuff. I was going to buy cookies for this afternoon, but one of our customers picked them up & refused to let me pay him back.
I also agreed to take a penny donation to our local school for an elderly gent in the neighborhood.
while removing heavy snow from the apron of our drive it seemed only appropriate given the RAK challenge to do as i would probably have done anyway, to remove the neighbor’s as well. other little things included remembering to use turn signal at intersections so other cars wanting to enter can know ahead of time that i, as on coming traffic am turning. these are not necessarily unusual things but just little things that can be done when i remember to look out into the environment around me rather than to stay inside my own head!
hearing of other knitters’ RAK is so inspiring…today one person in the mindfulness and knitting group on ravelry mentioned knitting kata scarf for others (something she’s done several times) and the next to be given to Pema Chodron a wonderful nun! this is just one example of the many i see daily!
I helped at my Daughters school today with the Holiday shop…it’s was so much fun helping the kid’s to shop for gifts for their loved ones
Mine is sort of a nothing compared to so many on here… but here goes: Since I don’t have a normal mailbox (I live on a city street), I generally have to head down to the post office to pick up packages. One of the things that my post office lets people do is dig through the packing-material-only recycling bins (neatly organized right by the door) for used boxes if they need to ship something somewhere but don’t have a box. Instead of just grabbing my packages, heading out the door and dealing with the boxes later, today I took an extra few minutes to open my packages at the post office, tuck their contents into a shopping bag and leave behind the shipping boxes for someone else to use.
I didn’t think I had an RAK, but this week I made a bunch of Christmas ornaments for people in a nursing home. It felt really nice to make something for people who might not have anyone to be with during the holidays. I loved reading all the RAKs and this has definitely inspired me to do more!
I was waiting in a long line at the store and had almost gotten to the front of the line when an elderly lady with a walker arrived. I gave her my spot and went to the back of the line.
My goats were due for a mandatory shot today and we were all a bit nervous- they are pets, not livestock so…… yes. We worry about furbabies. The two vets who came were very nice and while the catching and mudwrestling went on I snuck inside to quickly gather some cookies and homemade jam and wrapped it in two holiday bags- both vets were totally surprised to get something and I hit the jackpoint when one exclaimed that I chose her favourite jam even! 🙂 Sweet. Critters had a good time, so did the vets. Phew.
My RAK is to make sure that a family that I love dearly has a Christmas. They are seasonal workers in the seafood industry and have not been paid for the entire summer of work so no Christmas at their house so I am putting my families Christmas knitting on hold and working on some hats and felted slippers so that the family has as least one present under the tree.
I always hold doors open for people if I see they are having a hard time or if they just happen to be coming behind me.
I also picked up a shift at my second job one day this week because people had called in sick and no one was scheduled to work freight that day, even though it meant I would have to miss a day at my first, higher paid job.
It does seem odd to talk about this but here goes. The first actually happened last week when a person on Ravelry was saying she wanted to try Wollmeise but couldn’t find any for sale at a reasonable price. I had 2 half balls left from other projects so I sent them to her so she could see if it was worth what people were asking for it. The one for this week was send flowers to an elderly gentleman who misses his wife(who died 5 years ago) very much. He developed pneumonia and said he hoped it was time for him to meet with her again.
I prefer to call these intentional acts of kindness rather than random ones. Random acts can often go badly astray.
I sent Christmas cards to a couple of on-line friends that are going through a rough patch. They each got a little extra green this Christmas. Hopefully, that will ease their burdens a bit.
All I did was smile and speak cheerfully with the cashier at TJMaxx this afternoon. You’d have though I handed her a winning lottery ticket. “Oh, I’m so glad you came in,” she gushed. “Everyone’s been so crabby today.” I left her laughing merrily.
I forget sometimes that working retail or food service during the holidays is harder than it seems. (Apparently I’ve blotted those years out of my memory.) Taking a little extra time to make someone smile and feel good — it doesn’t cost a thing but it’s worth its weight in gold.
I was on the train commuting and sat next to a lady who needed help getting to the mall. So I checked the map to make sure that she was going to get off at the right stop. She was new to the area and was nervous about riding the train and had no idea where things were. She appeared to be relieved after helping her and am certain that she made it there a-ok!
Those Monte Cristo sandwiches look yummy and I have to try before the New Year before I make those “I’m gonna lose xx lbs” resolutions!
My parents just moved into a new home this week. Of course I helped as much as I could. I also surprised them with I nice dinner that I brought over, so my mom wouldn’t have to worry about cooking and could take the evening off. She appreciated that 🙂
I’ve been knitting beanies for the guys in my husbands platoon who are stationed in Iraq until May. I finished one this week and have started on the next. …I’ll probably be knitting these all month come to think o fit.
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes,
Three RAK and so the feelings grow.
Okay, so I have been watching Love Actually again and the song is stuck in my head. Such a feel good movie.
My first RAK was allowing one of my students to hand in their paper one day late so she could visit her grandpappy in the hospital before his surgery. This was a real step-out-of-the-box for this rule “stickler” professor. Maybe it was a RAK for both of us.
The second was buying a cup of coffee for the homeless person using the bathroom in the restaurant I ate lunch at today.
The third, leaving a piece of candy on the bedside table of all 33 patients in our treatment facility.