Stuff Other People Make – Page 3

The General – A story of love

To see why these cairns were built in Stratton, Vermont… click link below.

http://blog.vtica.com/2013/07/15/a-monument-to-love.aspx

Shared Summer Recipes

Recipes

Sent in by Chania – “This was suprisingly not too sweet. Best cake of the year so far in my house. Watch for my note about the sugar.”

http://razmatazblog.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-best-4th-of-july-cakeever.html

Healthy Exchange’s
Calico Cucumber Salad

2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
2 ¾ cups unpeeled and thinly sliced cucumbers
½ cup fat free mayo
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Splenda
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley

In a large bowl, combine corn, cucumber, and onion. In a small bowl, combine mayo, vinegar, Splenda, black pepper and parsley flakes. Add mayo mixture to vegetable mixture. Stir gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Gently stir again just before serving. 108 cal, 0 fat, 3 fiber
I believe this recipe is from Joanna Lund of Healthy Exchanges. My family loves this.

Kate of Chronicles of a Country Girl sent me these….

Watermelon, olive & feta salad:
http://chroniclesofacountrygirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-love-watermelon-and-my-sister.html
Sounds weird but tastes exceptionally good.

My favorite Guacamole:
http://katespictureaday.blogspot.com/2010/01/holy-moly-i-love-guacamole.html

Diane sent this great grilling recipe along….

http://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/2012/06/break-out-grill-for-old-favorite.html

Nana Diana’s Key Lime Pie

4 large egg yolks, beaten
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Top with whipped topping and garnish with lime slices if desired.

Soooo good!

Dee sent this Summer Salad in , a beloved family recipe…

http://theoldfathen.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/easy-summer-salad.html

Mark amazes me, he contributes to my requests often, even sent in a book for our Little Free Library..and this guy’s job takes him away from home more often than not. He’s on a boat right now.

Not much of a cook, and since I’m not home, can’t tap into my wife’s treasure trove of recipes, but here’s mine.

http://mark-marksrantsandraves.blogspot.com/2013/03/plenty-of-fire-wood.html

Ha ha, Mark –

Connie of Hartwood Roses contributes the following:
My favorite summer keep-in-the-fridge or take-to-a-summer-potluck recipe is Southern Living’s Honey Chicken Salad

http://www.southernliving.com/food/kitchen-assistant/easy-chicken-salad-recipes-00417000067757/page13.html

Most of the time I cheat and use a rotisserie chicken, so there’s no cooking at all.

(not my photo)

This one is from my own files.. I shared it here on the blog before, but it’s worth repeating 🙂

Dawn, this one’s from you.
http://thisoldhousetoo.blogspot.com/2010/07/watermelon-sangria.html

Sally of Whispering Hope is sharing this recipe..
“I’d almost forgotten how much we like macaroni & pea salad in the summertime. Oh, and also you can add tuna – I use albacore, so much better to me.”

1 (15 ounce) can green peas
4 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 diced onion
1 -2 tablespoon dill relish
8 ounces cooked macaroni
3/4 cup salad dressing or 3/4 cup mayonnaise, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

..and here’s one from Maggy down in North Carolina, where she reports it is sweltering!

Cucumbers & Onions In Sour Cream Sauce .. Best Cucumber Recipe Ever!

1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 to 2 small onions, thinly sliced

OPTIONAL:
— Sweet green peas
— Diced celery
— Mayo? I seem to remember that I always added a hint of mayonnaise to this recipe (Duke’s Mayo, always)

Combine sour cream, sugar, vinegar and salt; add cucumber and onion slices and stir gently. Cover and chill 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Yields 4 servings.

PS – If you have very watery cucumbers, let them ‘sweat’ and release some (or most) of their juices before adding them to the other ingredients. Otherwise, you’ll have a very watered down sauce, and it will undermine the taste of the cucumbers and the other ingredients.

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At 7:45 A.M. and 80 degrees already I have completed the outside barn and coop

chores and I might just give some of your recipes a whirl today.

Thank you so much for sharing…

For the love of pie

Is there any comfort food that says “LOVE” more than a home made pie? For me, there’s nothing better. My grandmother Elsie would have us for dinner frequently, and oooh, could she cook. In a tiny galley kitchen wearing high heels and a proper apron, even! Along with a gourmet meal, there would usually be pie for dessert. Not just one pie, usually two. Blueberry was my favorite, but the combination could be any of these as well – a delectable lemon meringue, chocolate cream, banana cream, or cream puffs that melted in your mouth.

I’m finally getting around to catching up on my favorite blog reading, and I came across this recipe this morning. My grandmother came to mind immediately. I’m so thankful for those memories and the traditions I still cherish.

This is a wonderful blog that drew me in because of her focus on the love of home and food and dogs and ocean (Maine!). I hope she doesn’t mind the share – click on link below….

http://oceanbreezesandcountrysneezes.blogspot.com/2013/05/lemon-meringue-pie-for-mothers-day.html

Do you have a favorite comfort food?
Or one that speaks to you of family and cherished traditions?
Let us know in the comments section, and feel free to share a link to a recipe!

Hearts for Hounds

Yesterday a box arrived from still-snowy Nebraska.

There was no chill in this box, however…

more like a brilliant ray of sunshine.

Nancy

made these by hand to be worn by our next group of

rescued shelter dogs who will be available for adoption

in May… see link below for more info.

http://thisoldhousetoo.blogspot.com/2013/03/another-day-for-dogs.html

Not only did she spent time putting these beautiful heart tags together,

she thought of me too….

A beautiful mug and my favorite tea (how did you KNOW?)

and… a camera necklace that I’ll be wearing today..

never seen one like it and I love it..

you all know I’m a shutter bug.

I wish THIS kind of thing..

an act of kindness… were in the headlines on a daily basis.

It’s what really makes the world go round.

Thank you, Nancy.

Thank you.

Just a thought here….

Now, first understand that I don’t need donations to start up my Little Free Library. I’ve got plenty to stock it. However, if you love the idea too… and are an avid reader and book collector as I am… you can help me stock the library by sending a book you have already read and don’t mind never seeing again. It can be a childrens book or a gardening how to book or a romance or mystery, best seller or new author, whatever! I think it would be really fun to see the diversity of what we can throw together. If this is something that you’d like to join in on, I also recommend writing your blog address on the inside cover indicating to new readers that you donated the book. Send me an e-mail if you want to donate, and I’ll give you my mailing address. karenthisoldhouse@hotmail.com

Below are a few more…

cute window box!

This one is located in Ghana….

And this one is in Memphis!…

alittle imagination goes a long way!

Little Free Library

I saw this on FB the other day, and I loved the idea so much I asked if this could be my b-day present. The Mr. said yes. Soooo… I’ve ordered one, and it will soon be out in front of This Old House, next to the vegetable cart we are apparently resurrecting this summer. If you’re a local and you know where I live, feel free to borrow, keep or donate a book any time. I’ve been such an avid reader over the years, I have hundreds of books. What a great way to share!… and even though there is a library here in town, encouraging the practice of reading, unplugging from our gadgets,…. it can’t be a bad thing. My Little Free Library will be located on the road at the second driveway (brown barn entrance). Help yourself!

“Little Free Library was started in 2009 by Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, who decided that giving away books from his private collection would serve as a fitting tribute to his mother, a teacher. With the help of a community outreach expert, Bol was able to spread the concept. Now there are almost 18,000 library stewards as Bol calls them, who have registered their own Little Free Libraries in 45 states and dozens of countries. Each owner pays a $25 to the nonprofit organization to get a sign and a number, and to be on the locator map at http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/

It’s a beautiful thing

Southern Comfort

I think my southern blog friends Andy and Mandy have taken pity on us northerners with all the snow that’s been dumped on us lately. Yesterday, much to my surprise, the mail lady came trudging up to the side gate with a package in hand…they really do deliver in sleet and snow!

It was a much welcomed package full of southern comfort –

My birthday is around the corner, so they added this note…

It all started with Andy’s rave about these B & G handmade pies..

I went looking, and discovered they are only found in the South.

He thought that was a travesty and decided to send some my way.

Let me tell ya, the lemon pies are a bite full of southern sunshine.

Gone in 60 seconds.

But they didn’t stop with the pies.

Nooo.. we’ve got corn muffin and biscuit mixes…

Biscuit cut ham… now that’s something I have never seen around here….

….and Apple Butter from the Dutch Kettle.

I happen to love apple butter.

Andy and Mandy put the gold star on the term Southern Hospitality.

A & M – Thanks so much for warming up this chilly New England house yesterday.

Andy blogs about home improvement projects and family,

hailing from North Carolina. He stumbled upon my blog when we

were in the midst of ressurecting This Old House and began following along.

You can find his blog HERE.

The Real Deal

From the time I was very young, I absolutely adored Charles Kuralt, an american journalist widely known for his long career with CBS. How many of you remember “On the road with Charles Kuralt”? Charles would get in his RV and travel America in search of interesting people, the everyday Joe or Evelyn, living remarkable and seemingly unremarkable lives. He’d tell their story in such a way. Oh, how I loved that show…and getting to know such interesting people, living out of the spotlight, doing great things big and small.

If I didn’t have such a strong urge to be a mother, wife and homestead keeper, I’d have liked to do just what Charles did. *If I could take my dogs. For a while here in town I was editor and publisher of a small monthly publication, and I took that opportunity to play out my dream just a little bit. I wrote a column highlighting one individual a month who was contributing in a positive way to our community. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if newspapers and newscasts were 80 percent -made of THAT stuff- .

Why am I talking about this? One of my favorite publications is YANKEE Magazine. I’m drawn to it for two reasons… I live in the region, obviously, but also YANKEE does a little of what Mr. Kuralt did. It does not generate big income for them to highlight Rusty the plow operator for the town of Cabot, Vermont. They gave him a full spread anyway. The folks at YANKEE still have their finger on the pulse of the REAL America. The people who get up and go to work every day and get the job done, doing it with pride. The ones who make the REAL world go round with their own contribution…. minus the fanfare.

I could give a rats *ss what Kim Kardashian’s boyflavor of the month is….

tell me Rusty Churchill’s story any day and you’ve got my full attention.

To read his story, click HERE