Category: Uncategorized

Jell-O 10 cents

 Mrs. N. in the log cabin on the hill gave me two bags full of old cookbooks, both hardcover and pamphlet style… a goldmine of old recipes, I just love them.   Some date back to the very early 1900’s…and I got a kick out of the style of the advertising and some of the recipes of  ye olde days.

From 1951…

 From 1933…

“Magic” would be the word if everyone in my family
was dressed this special …..
My grandmother dressed this way daily, with an apron during cooking too.
Imagine that.
 
This stuff just doesn’t look appetizing…
Nor does this… THRIFTY SALAD
Let’s see… Lemon Jello with sliced tomatoes, peas, SALMON??…
on a bed of lettuce.
*GAG*
 Jell-O published these adorable pamphlets dated 1916 & 1917… I love the artwork,
 and the ads with stories included are just …so……..um… 1916 & 1917.
See for yourself…

“Though the honeymoon  is not yet over and everything she does is still perfect,
the young housewife who is no cook has gone through a period of awful
trepidation while preparing that first dessert.  She didn’t know, as all experienced
housewives do, that she couldn’t go wrong with Jell-O. “

 If I had only known, I would have started with Jell-O.

Scalloped Tomatoes

 This recipe and photo is from Phoebebites.com

  With garden produce about to become readily available – this is a terrific spring summer dish fresh from you backyard.  It’s delicious!  I recommend using parmesan you have grated freshly yourself, rather than the powdery stuff you can buy in the grocery store.

Scalloped Tomatoes

Adapted from Ina Garten via the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network

•Olive oil, 2 tablespoons plus more for drizzling at the end

•Crusty bread, cut into 1/2-inch dice, 1 1/2 cups

•Tomatoes, 8 medium, cut into 1/2-inch dice

•Garlic, 2 cloves, minced

•Sugar, 1 tablespoon

•Salt, 1 teaspoon

•Pepper, 1/2 teaspoon

•Basil, julienned, 1/4 cup lightly packed

•Parmesan, grated, 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for five minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for five minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow baking dish (I used my ceramic pie dish). Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese and drizzle with some olive oil on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly.

A Semi Formal Education

    This Mothers Day weekend I learned three things –  1. -Just how grown up my son is becoming,  2. how only young people can truly walk in these shoes and pull it off gracefully – (this ability is no longer in my grasp)   – and  3. how FORMAL Freshman semi-formals have become.  This ain’t your mother’s semi-formal, I can tell you that.

 This couple was just so handsome, love the blue hues between them…
 Can I have a do-over?

How to be a really awesome totally cool Mom…

  You didn’t really think I’d have the answer, now, did ya?   

 I can tell you what NOT to do…..

Me:  … (walking over to picnic table full of soccer boys with two pizzas and two liters of soda)

Him:   Thanks mom!…. (and all start devouring said pizza & soda)

Me:  Can I have a sip of your coke please?…

Him:   Um No.

Me:  Are you kidding?  Just a sip!

Him:  NO mom.   I don’t want your germs!….get your own.

Me:  There are no more cups, can I just have a sip??…..

 ( I’m thinking, I  just drove 200 miles to and from a soccer game on a freezing  cold afternoon, catered to their care and comfort  and stopped at pizza place so they could  refuel.  The least I can expect is a sip of soda, right? Too much to ask???)

Him:   Uh-uh.

Me:  You do know that THIS body made the body YOU LIVE IN, right?  YOU CAME FROM ME.  SO… my germs are your germs, kid.  Give me a  freak’n sip.

Yeah… so… don’t ever remind them of that if you want to be considered a really awesome totally cool Mom.  Especially when they are sitting at the table eating pizza with six other 11 year olds. 

Really… don’t.  
Happy Mothers Day, all….

And then there were four….

  So, momma bird has been sitting on her eggs in the industrial side of town….

 And I had to do something to help her out,
seeing as the dogs run by her little nest every five minutes.
A little privacy and protection from driving rain was needed.
When I checked on the nest yesterday…
there were FOUR eggs, not just two.
Why do women always make things harder for themselves,
I wanna know.

Speaking of baby birds…
the chicks are about two weeks old now and
with the exception of loosing Ethel,the barred rock chick, on the second day…
all are doing well and GROWING FAST…
I doubled the brooder space by putting two boxes together
and have put shavings in the bottom instead of paper towels, which I was changing
twice daily. Fun!! They get an occasional cooked egg yolk or oatmeal treat.
I’ve also raised the heat lamp so that they will begin to acclimate to outside temps
and their feathers will grow in properly.

Ask me how much I love my chickens already.
The  guys are outside this morning trying to create irrigation for the mud pit  garden.
We’ve had so much rain, the water table is very high in the lower fields next to the house.
This kind of mess always puts Mike in an awesome mood. 

William & Kate

  I’m not a “royal watcher” by any means, but you can’t help notice what’s happening on the other side of the pond, it’s all over the news… constantly.   Like many others, I ‘ve certainly grown weary of the constant media barrage regarding the upcoming royal wedding.  There’s an awful lot of serious things happening around the world right now, this is just a wedding after all.  Throw in all the catty gossip and overly publicized scandals to the Royal Family over the years, and it casts a tacky shadow.  Some say the monarchy is outdated.

  So now I’ll admit to you that I happen to like most of the royals and there’s something to be said for upholding centuries old traditions, maintaining rituals, dignity and grace in the face of all that crap.  It’s easy to forget that they are also very real people trying to live and thrive in a surreal world. The expectations are almost impossible.

I love William and Kate as a couple – looks to me like a genuine happiness when they are in each others company and I feel a weird sense of resurrection and renewal for the royal family.  I do believe these two are going to bring a lot of good to the world.

The ceremony was beautiful, the gown was perfect
What a beautiful bride….
talk about grace under pressure!
I was amazed at the sea of hats on just about every woman…
 I’m sure the hatmakers of England can now retire.
..and these two?
Beatrice and Eugenie  …well.. no words needed, really.
OK, one word.
Really? 
What I would have given to be riding one of those magnificent horses
in the procession through the streets.
I admired their composure in the midst of the cheering crowds.
If you know horses, no easy feat!
 Summing it up, I’m a sucker for a good love story,
and for beauty and inspiration
in a time when we need all we can get.
I was surprised to find myself crying as I watched this piece of history
unfolding across the pond.
A mix of joy, hope…
and sadness.

A Jarring Experience

 My heart goes out to those in southern states who are suffering at the hands of the weather. It’s getting downright eerie… the weather patterns and distruction this year.. everywhere. Makes me wonder if the Earth has had just about enough of our abuse and is ready to shake us off like a bad case of fleas.

Anyway… on to a Jarring Experience of a different sort.
Me and my big ideas.
I’m all FARM GIRL and BACK TO THE LAND now,right?
I’ve been cooking for as long as I’ve been married
and I make a mean apple pie…
but I have never made applesauce from scratch, or canned/jarred anything…
So.. today is a rainy misty day…nothing outdoors is do-able.
This gave me the idea to go ahead and break in my
brand new canning/jarring boiler so that I can start stocking the pantries.
I decided to start with Applesauce, as I had two big bags of apples in need of use. 
These were Empires and Macintosh..
I peeled and cored and quartered.
I cooked until softened,
Then threw the softened apples into a food processor.

 I couldn’t help but notice the amount of “sauce” was starting to look like
it was not going to fill all six of the quart jars I was boiling for sterilization.
I put the processed apples back in the pot,
added just a little brown sugar,  just a little white sugar and cinnamon.
Then brought it back to boiling, and after five minutes, started filling jars
that came straight out of the jar sterilizing pot.
Then I covered them with lids from the lid sterilizing pot.
It tasted delicious.
 And I got  – Two – quart jars. 
That’s all I got after all the prep of two big bags of apples
and a ridiculous amount of pots on my stove
(who knew I OWNED that many big pots?).

 Then I threw the two in the boiler, rolling boil for 20 minutes, per recipe…

 And took them out to cool.
All two of them.
SO… all you canners out there … 
Does it really take 
two jar sterilizing pots, a lid sterilizing pot
A cooking apples pot, a boiler,
and a DUMP TRUCK LOAD OF APPLES
to make a few jars of apple sauce? 
And how do you know you’re not gonna give your family botulism or something down the road? 
Back to the Land indeed.