Category Archives: Homemaking

Comings and Goings…

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I’ve been trying to keep “home” in my thoughts as the new year unfolds,
but so far “in my thoughts” has been about the extent of it!

We “overed” Christmas and the New Year… That’s a pretty busy time of year for our family. We cleaned up the wrapping paper and cleaned out the fridge. And then we packed, and left home for 12 days. Almost two weeks… Almost half the month! But it was worth it to see these two sweet faces…

SweetBoys

And even though we were far away from home, we discovered that…

Home is where they love you.

Even if they are a little bit silly…

GoofyBoys

Just an old cliché?

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Sometimes a phrase becomes so familiar that we take it for granted.

Created using the Cartolina app for iPad!

Created using the Cartolina app for iPad!

Phrases like “Home is where the heart is.”

It’s been printed and painted and stitched on lots of samplers.

Just “old hat.”

So cliché.

Or is it?

I wasn’t sure where the phrase originated, so I did a bit of quote researching to make sure it was attributed to the correct person. I honestly figured that nobody knew where that saying came from… Probably just a sentiment written on a sampler from the Victorian era. (An era I love, by the way, for its sentiment!) What I found was that “Home is where the heart is” goes back much farther. It goes WAY back. “Home is where the heart is” is thought to have been uttered in the first century A.D., by the Roman philosopher and historian, Pliny the Elder. Pliny also had a lifelong career in the Roman army and navy, and I wonder if time away from home due to military obligations prompted him to pen the phrase? One of his military deployments was in 79 A.D., when he was stationed in Misenum. There, he lost his life attempting to evacuate the residents of Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted. His last notable quote was “Fortune favors the brave,” when he was warned to turn back. That’s what I call a hero.

All that to say that when phrases are old enough,
they are no longer cliché…

They become a CLASSIC.

The idea of Home is not just a sentimental thought…

It truly is where our hearts belong.

Some things just never go out of style.

A Resolution, of sorts…

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I actually like to make New Year’s Resolutions.

They sort of make you feel like there’s a possibility
of getting your act together, once and for all.

And then January 2nd rolls around.

A couple of weeks ago, I read a blog post about
choosing just one word for the  new year.

And that sounded a lot easier than making normal resolutions…

… And a lot harder.

And maybe a little over simplified…

…But…

…Was there just one thing that I needed to focus on this year?

…Something the Lord had placed on my heart
that I might have neglected in my busy-ness?

It took quite a bit of thought, and a whole scribbly mess of words
being jotted down, circled, grouped together, and crossed off.

And one word began to stand out…

Home

And that one word led to a bunch of words
that encompass the idea of Home.

I’m sure there are more.

Beyond the Empty Nest
and the “What Now?”
Home has been waiting patiently.

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Shiny Sink…

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Do you know FlyLady?

Love her for her organizational wisdom!

Her #1 Baby Step for getting your act together…

Shine Your Sink.

I made a good sized dent in the Art Room Clutter yesterday morning, and today, decided to start at the “Sink” end of the room, and move toward the “Step” end, in one controlled swoop. My Art Room used to be our attached one-car garage that has never, ever had a car in it… It was Hubby’s workshop until he moved it to the horse barn. (Poor guy… Pretty tight quarters there too! But there is room for expansion!) We opened up a wide doorway from the garage into our dining room.

Best thing/Worst thing we ever did.

Best, because I like to work in my living space.
…Not up in a lonely spare room away from everything that is
going on. I can check on dinner, scan things on the computer,
be there for my family when needed,
or fold a load of laundry in between coats of paint.

Worst, because I like to work in my living space.
…And the stove and dryer beep at me when I’m working on
something really intricate, and I sometimes get distracted,
and the Art Room mess tends to migrate up the steps and
into the places that we should keep ready for company.

All that to make the point that the sink is on one end of the Art Room.

And here it is in all its clean, lovely, shiny splendor…

ShinySink

I LOVE this sink.

It’s an antique…
…Pulled out of a remodel job my Dad did, destined for the dump.

But Dad knew it belonged in my house.

It has a few well-worn places, and a couple of chips in the enamel,
but it looks perfect sitting on top of the retro-style cabinets that Hubby built.

A white sink in an Art Room needs a LOT of tending…
Black paint really does a number on it,
but Ajax and elbow grease can work wonders.

Good storage is needed there too…

This vintage cheese box is a great way to corral all the bottles of
stuff needed to clean dirty brushes and messy kids’ hands…

SinkStorage

And a little reminder for myself adds a bit of humor to my day…

Inspiration

Typo intended.

:-D

What do you do first, when trying to get a “clean slate” in a room?

Pie Filling…

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After making the pie crusts, the next step is to
decide on the perfect pumpkin pie filling recipe!

I’m playing with several recipes we’ve used over the years,
trying out all the changes we’ve made to them…

…Like replacing brown sugar for white, for that extra “yum” factor…

And just the right blend of spices…

Hopefully we’ll eventually mix up the perfect pumpkin pie!

Does anyone have a killer pumpkin pie recipe?

I’m experimenting with recipes that use fresh pumpkin
and heavy cream or milk instead of evaporated  or condensed milk.

And I need a recipe that a kid can follow…
…with a little help from her Nana.

Who knows?

Maybe YOUR recipe could be in

Pie from Scratch!

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

Pie Crust…

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Finally got a chance to play with some pie crust!

I’m going with an old-fashioned pie crust recipe…
…the kind our grannies used…
…with “real” ingredients…

I used a cup each of fresh ground wheat flour and white flour.
And 1/2 teaspoon salt.
And 2/3 cup “shortening.”

For the shortening, I used a butter/lard combo…
Living on a farm, I figured that is most likely what
Annie’s Nana would have used for her pie crust.

First you have to “cut in” the cold butter and lard
until you have crumbs the size of peas…

And then you add just enough ice water to form a dough.
Really… ICE water. See the ice cubes in the bowl?

Then form the dough into two balls…

Roll them out…

Transfer the dough to your pan…

Trim the edges…

Make them pretty…

And bake!

Single crust pies usually need to have the crust baked first…
I’m just going to “half bake” it so the edges aren’t too well done.
I found these fun “Baking Beans” at Hobby Lobby…
They’ll keep the crust from puffling up while baking!

Special Nana Anne Tip for Baking with Kids:

Let the kids have the pie crust trimmings for their own baking project! She would give my girls the trimmings to roll out, enhance with spices, and bake. Pop Vin used to tease the girls that they would play with the dough until it was too dirty to play with, and then eat it! Actually, they used to feed the finished products to him, and he was quite a good sport about it! Even when not making pie crust, the girls would beg Nana to make them “dough” so they could create fantastic baked goods. Their favorite “recipe” was butter topped with cinnamon sugar…

Ah, Kitchen Memories…

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

From Scratch…

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What does “from scratch” mean?

Evidently, the original meaning has something to do with sporting events… being at the starting line, or having to start over. Later, after boxed baking mixes became available, “from scratch” took on the new meaning of using separate ingredients rather than a mix. However, “from scratch” had an even deeper meaning for my Nana Anne.

Nana was born in 1929, the year of “The Crash”… the official beginning of the Great Depression. She was one of the “older girls” in a farm family of 12 children, and after she finished her schooling at the age of 14, she helped raise her younger brothers and sisters. Life was defined by hard work as a teen, and even as a young wartime bride. “Making do” was a necessity for all of her life, but Nana turned it into a game of sorts. She LOVED to see what she could make out of nothing… from scratch. And she passed the game on to her grandkids. I can remember digging through baskets of scrap material, ribbons, and buttons with her to make something out of nothing. Or telling her I was hungry, and the two of us peeking in the cupboards to see what we could make “from scratch.” She was an expert at whipping up a feast from leftovers in the fridge or making bread or muffins from a little cornmeal or flour.

Annie’s Pumpkin Pie Adventure has grown out of that love of doing things “from scratch.” She wants to know where the ingredients in her pie come from, and how they work together to make a finished product. I think a lot of kids are curious about such things. So much that we eat today comes from the freezer section, a box mix, or a fast-food drive-in window. I’m glad I had a Nana that insisted on making things from scratch, and that passed on her “who-needs-the-store-let’s-see-what-we-have-already” attitude!

What sort of things do YOU like to make ”from scratch?”

Don’t forget your Pumpkins!!!

Like to bake things “from scratch?”
A young friend of mine is doing 31 Days of Decadent Desserts!
Pay her a visit and find some great recipes!

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

Bread Pudding!

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Since we were talking about recycling Christmas cards the other day, I thought maybe recycling stale bread might be a good follow-up post! I hadn’t made bread pudding in quite a while, but we had oodles of leftover rolls from Christmas, and rather than feed them to the chickens, I thought I’d make it into something Hubby and I could eat!

This is actually a non-recipe. I go by “feel” with this one, and I really don’t think you can mess it up. Start with stale bread. We had about 18 dinner rolls left, so I broke them into bits in my large mixing bowl. Then I added about 1/2 cup of sugar, about a teaspoon of vanilla, about a teaspoon of cinnamon, two eggs, and enough milk to make a sloppy mixture. I mix it with my hands so I know for sure that it has the right feel. In ages past, I would have tasted it to make sure it was good and sweet, but I can’t recommend that due to the raw eggs. Pour the whole gloppy mess into a casserole dish, and bake it somewhere between 350 and 400 for somewhere between a half an hour and an hour. Our family always baked ours until it was hard enough to cut into squares, but it’s also good baked soft and served with whipped cream like they do in diners.

I’ve never met a “pretty” bread pudding, but it sure is yummy!

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Day 4 – The Plan… on a Budget!

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I don’t like to write about money… or the lack thereof… on my blog. However, I’m hoping that old-fashioned Elbow Grease will we what we invest the most of while remodeling the bedroom!

Money isn’t something that has ever been in abundance around here. Living on one income and homeschooling really stretched us at times, and The Tightwad Gazette had a permanent resting place under my Bible during those early years as a Mom. We’ve been working the past couple of years to reduce our debt, and for a short while Dave Ramsey’s book sat on Chris’s side of the couch. This week, after Chris spent Monday trying to get his work truck to start, I’m tempted to pull them both out and start brushing up on pairing down! But, the Lord led me to I Timothy chapter 6 early this morning, and then to my friend Cheryl’s Day 3 blog post (In that order… isn’t that amazing?) and I realized I need stop worrying. Making do and being content with what I have was going to be a big part of our Bedroom Swap!

Material-wise, we should be able to do this
relatively inexpensively…

Floors – Sander & sandpaper is still sitting
in a corner of the almost empty room.

Walls – Bought two gallons of “Sea Air” pale aqua paint
a couple of years ago to re-do our small bedroom… if I mix it with
Kate’s leftover icy Aqua from her camper’s interior renovation…
…I think there will be enough!

Trim – Also have a gallon of white semi-gloss enamel
in the paint cupboard awaiting the next project.

Wallpaper Removal – We have one of the scratchy slicey
wall-paper remover doo-hickeys and a spray
bottle of vinegar… works every time!

Wall Repair – I have my very own tube of
DryDex Spackle & Nail Hole Filler!
(Also works great for small dings in picture frames!)

Curtains – I’m planning on cutting down the girls white curtains
so they just cover the bottom half of the windows.

Bedding – I’ll tell you about that tomorrow!

:-)

Ready for the project!

RaRa’s Freezer Pickles. Or what to do with too many cukes.

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We’ve been getting quite a few cucumbers from the garden… more than we can keep up with eating fresh. This afternoon, I finally had a chance to make a big batch of my Aunt Robin’s Freezer Pickles. She said it was okay to share the recipe… it’s easy, and they are YUMMY!

First you need to peel a pile of cucumbers! The peelings are headed for the Worm Bin… they’ll be happy!

And then slice them thinly. A food processor does the job just fine… I think my Black & Decker Shortcut is about twenty years old, and has made LOTS of freezer pickles in its lifetime! Matter of fact, I think Freezer Pickles are the reason I own it!

The recipe calls for 7 cups thinly sliced cukes, and 1 cup thinly sliced onions. (Sliced those the old fashioned way, with lots of crying involved.)  I peeled and sliced en masse, as you can see. For each 8 cups of cukes & onions, sprinkle 2 Tbsp. Salt and mix well. Then let them sit for about two hours. After two hours, pour off the water that has accumulated, and rinse well. They’ll taste a bit salty, but most of the salt is being poured off with the water. The soaking helps make the pickles “burpless.”

Then, for each 8 cup batch mix together:

1 cup White Vinegar

2 cups Sugar
(They’re prettiest if you use White Sugar, not Raw Sugar!)

1 tsp. Celery Seed

Mix up the vinegar & sugar solution, and pour onto the cukes & onions. Stir well, making sure they’re all coated. Put them in the fridge overnight so they can absorb the “juice.” In the morning, pack the pickles in freezer containers or bags and freeze them. They’re best if you wait a couple of weeks to eat them. They’re sort of sweet & sour in flavor, and when you take them to church potlucks, someone will always find you and ask for the recipe!

Thanks for sharing, RaRa!