Happy Chicken Day!

Well, You're probably wondering why I said Happy Chicken Day, instead of Happy Turkey Day... This year's holidays are very meager, but still very blessed. We've had several chickens that we bought a while ago when Walmart had the 98 cents a pound chickens and we had money and time to walk that far all at the same time. We saved the biggest for roasting. Well, my parents are working on moving to Indiana this coming spring/summer, and they are up there for this weekend, so we knew we were going to be on our own for the first time. And we both have to work on Thanksgiving, I from 10-1 and Grant 3-11 and 11-7. So we had our feast last night. We had our Roast Chicken which turned out excellent (The first time I'd ever roasted anything without a bag!!!), Stuffing (from a box), Au Gratin Potatoes (from a box), No-Bake Pumpkin Pie Dessert (From a box), and (this one you'll never believe) Cool-Whip from a box! Most of that was given to us, or we bought at ridiculously low prices. The Cool-Whip in a box we have at Dollar General, it's called Dream Whip, and you just mix up a packet with vanilla and milk, and whip it until it's the right consistency. It's shelf stable, that's why I got some, and it didn't taste too bad!
Well, as my parents were leaving for Indiana this morning, they brought us their extra car so we could use it for the weekend. So, I went to work (not having to walk for the first time in months!) and when I got off we went to get my new Driver's License. (I've been living in Missouri for 4 years and married for 2 and still hadn't switched states or names.) So now I'm official! Then we came here, and we're going to get the Christmas decorations out of storage this evening, and finally clear out the junk from the house that has needed to go to storage since we moved and we couldn't get it there!!! Maybe by Christmas my house will be company worthy!


~*~Dollar General Sale Report~*~
*70% off all Halloween Decorations (this doesn't include scarecrows and pumpkins, those are harvest...)
~~~*~~~Thanksgiving Sale~~~*~~~
Not all stores got in all items
---All Week---
*ALL TWO LITER COKE PRODUCTS $1!!!!
*The Zone Wireless Gaming System $39 (regularly $49)
*Axe Holiday Gift Set $8 (Regularly $10)
*Black and Decker Coffeemaker $15 (Regularly $20)
*Flying Alarm Clock (It really does fly) $5 (Regularly $8
*Portable Dvd players $25

---Thursday and Friday only---
*Wrangler Jeans $8 (regularly $12)
*Net 10 Phones 1 penny w/purchase of phone card ($30-$100)
*Emerson 1 GB MP3 Player $12 (Regularly $18)
*100 count mini lights BYGO Half Off (Regularly $3)
*The ad states that there are "Wheelie knock off" Shoes in the sale, they have been pulled because of technical difficulties, we are hoping they will be brought back at a later time...)

Free Book Offer from Oprah and Snapfish.com

Until 11:59 pm on November 22 you can go to snapfish.com to make your own photo book and recieve it for free (with shipping and handling, usually around 6.99), a $20 value! I just went and made mine of my wedding photos. You get 20 pages of photos, and you can add extra pages for a minimal charge. A warning though, because of the overwhelming response to it, they said they are having a wait time on customer support of about 1 hour, and it takes a while to check out. They said the best time to check out with it is weekdays mornings and afternoons. You can save your book and return to it at another time! A good Christmas gift, or keepsake for a special family event!
The page is www.snapfish.com/info18, and I believe that it is also on the homepage with a link stating For Oprah Viewers (or something like that).

The last week...

Ok.. So I think it's been at least a week since I posted, and I'm sorry for that. With it getting colder I just don't have the motivation every day to leave for work 1 or 2 hours early to go to the library. Today, however, Grant had the day off, and I don't go to work until 4, so we walked the 2 miles to the Christian College that we both used to attend, to get on the computers there. We have managed to get a few things done around the "homestead." I baked bread for the first time in our new house. I baked the Betty Crocker White Bread recipe for 4 loaves. I must say that the electric stove and I are not on the best of terms right now. The bread was supposed to bake for 20 minutes, after 5 it was burning, and i pulled it out and we tried some and it was cooked, except for a couple of the loaves were still doughy on the inside, but not too bad. Hopefully sometime soon I'll have some extra money and can get a thermometer for the oven to find out if that's the problem. We also worked on boarding up the holes in the ceiling, which seems to have helped, and we started on some of the holes in the floors. We hung up blankets over some of the windows, and started re-arranging the bedroom to maybe make it warmer. My office is for the most part set up, but not organized yet. The living room/craft room is a completely other story. Most of the stuff that needs to go to storage is housed in this room for now, and with not having a running car, that makes things difficult. We're hoping to talk someone into helping with this for payment of some cookies or homemade bread or something.

Why Can't People Just Be Honest...

I'm kinda upset right now about something, and I figured I'd blog about it... My assistant manager at work hasn't shown up for 3 days. That counts as a full no call no show quit. I'm really upset by this, as he was the only guy that worked there and that made me feel safe in a way, and I worked with him the last night that he worked, and he didn't say anything to me about it. Yes, I guess it could have been a fluke accident and he could be laying in a hospital bed and can't get word back to us, but it still makes me mad that we were finally starting to gain a relationship and actually enjoy working together and actually talk to each other when we were walking home at night and he didn't even say anything... Ok, so I suppose that's the end of my rant for today. I just wish people could and would be honest to the people that are around them.

So, on the up side, that gained me an extra full day, and an extra hour on the day I was already working. As of right now, I don't know what will come of the situation, if there will be promotions, or someone coming in from the outside. I have mixed feelings about this, I don't want someone coming in from the outside to reign over us, when they haven't been there to gain our trust and respect at all, but I don't think that the Lead Associate would move up, and I don't want a key holding position, so that's probably what will happen. Good thing this is my weekend off. I plan on baking alot of bread to be able to pound out my frustrations with. And maybe some cookies... I think I deserve some cookies right now...

Applesauce

For anyone that wanted it... Here's the Betty Crocker Applesauce recipe:

8 tart apples
water (1 cup to 1 quart apples)
1/2 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/8 cinnamon or nutmeg

Wash, pare, core and slice the apples. Place in a sauce pan. Add water. Simmer until the apples are tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Taste and add more sugar, if desired. Cook 1 more minute. Serve cold. [It was also pretty good warm] Elegant topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Are Angels in season?

My poor sleep deprived husband had some good ones for me this past weekend. He came in from work on Sunday morning and asked me if Angels were in season. I of course was flabbergasted as to what to say to him. He was completely straight faced the entire time. He asked me again if Angels were in season. I asked him what he was talking about and he said they watched an episode of Home Improvement the night before and Jill (the mom) had asked her youngest son Mark if he wanted some fresh Angel Food cake, and he said no. She then in turn said, why not, it's made from fresh Angels! So then my poor sleep deprived husband decided he wanted to know when Angels were in season so he could have some fresh Angel food cake with fresh Angels. He also wanted to know if we had to kill the angels to get their hair for Angel Hair pasta.

I was then reading to him from the new Amish Cookbook I got, Cooking with the Horse and Buggy People Part 2, and he decided that he needed to become an Amish bishop. Of course, by now I knew he was just completely wacky with what he was saying so I decided to let him run with it. He was outraged by the number of convenience items that were in this cookbook. There were a couple recipes with instant potato flakes in them, some canned items from the store, and a couple with refrigerated tube biscuits. So, he decided that he was to become an Amish bishop so that he could outlaw such items, as they were not "simple." Then.... here comes the good part... he decided that on 5th Sunday, all the Amish men in his district would wear Hawaiian shirts and all the women would wear tie-dye dresses!!! He couldn't decide which part of the dress or if the whole dress would be tie-dye, but the idea of it was enough to make me laugh... I had to share with you!


Here's a recipe from my new cookbook!

Dick's Bundt Rolls

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts
2 tubes buttermilk biscuits

Melt butter and add remaining ingredients except biscuits. Mix well. Grease tube bundt pan. Place half of sytup mixture in bottom of pan. Place biscuits on end around tube pan. Pour remaining syrup over top of biscuits and bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes. Remove from pan.


Sounds yummy!!!!

Update on the house...

I had another 3 day "weekend" this week, as I will for a while, so I got alot done on the house. The kitchen is nearly completely unpacked and functional. The only thing left to work on in there is cleaning all the dishes that just got packed dirty (bad idea... next time I think I'll rent a dishwasher (can you even do that???)) and finding them a home, and sorting to decide what goes into storage and what's getting sold. Very hard decisions...

God has blessed us this past week with provisions for winter. I sent Grant (I don't think I've ever used his name before... that's my hubby) to the store yesterday to get some groceries for this week (when it takes 4 -5 hours to do a shopping trip and you have to walk at least 2 miles to the store and carry everything home, you try to do it as little as possible...) and he came home with very sad news... The sweet Vadalia onions are out of season. :( With my stomach problems this is the only kind of onions I can eat, and I wanted some to put up for winter. Oh well... The day was not a complete loss. He managed to find an apple tree across the street that the owners don't do anything with. So he asked them about anyone picking it, and they said no one picks it, no one tends it, so if we want them, we can pick every apple off the tree!!! So yesterday he brought me home a 5-gallon bucket of apples (we're not sure what kind, the little greenish colored ones, they are kinda tart but still sweet at the same time...) and worked up half of them. I made a batch of applesauce (just a small batch, the Betty Crocker recipe) that we had some of last night (it was amazing...) And saved some of the worked up apples in the fridge for today, in lemon juice of course. I still have 1/2 the bucket left to work up and I saw the tree today and it was still pretty full of apples! Thank goodness next week's weekend is sooner than later!

Well, on to my onions, I was pretty sad that I wasn't going to get my onions, but Grant went to the store today (this time to Walmart :( I don't like that store) to get a couple other things that the grocery store didn't have. He said as he was getting to the produce area the gentleman was bringing out a flat of Sweet Onions!!!! He said that one was the only store in town to get any, and that flat was the last shipment of the year!!! PTL! So he bought me 3 bags at $3 each, and a set of pantyhose to save them in, so I spent the morning tying my onions into pantyhose. I've never done this before... We'll see how it goes.

We're hoping with our tax refund this year to buy a computer and get internet set up in our house, so maybe by January or February I might be able to post everyday, and actually get recipes up!

Washing Machines

I'm thinking of getting a new washing machine. Now, before you think, "Now, Dawn, you've talked about how much in debt you are, and how much money you need every month to pay bills." Hear me out. I'm not going with the latest Kenmore or Maytag. I'm thinking of one from Lehman's!

This is the one I would love to have! Home Queen Wringer Washer

• Uses much less water than an automatic washing machine
• Requires no water pressure, and really gets clothes clean
• Stainless steel tub holds 14 pounds of clothing!
• 42 1/2" Hx24"OD, 139 lb.
• One-year warranty on parts only
• Made in Saudi Arabia

But it costs an amazing:

$899 for the 120V, 60 cycle, 7.5 amp
$949 for the 230V, 50 cycle, 3.5 amp

and both of these have an added $175 for freight.



SO.... I'm thinking this one looks like it might be closer in my future...


Lehman's® Hand Washer -

• Easy, thorough washing-Agitator's pendulum motion slashes effort and shortens wash time to just several minutes per load. Triangle-shaped agitator forces water and detergent through clothes as they gently roll and turn, and keeps clothes fully submerged - never floating on surface or lodged in corners.
• First-rate construction-We worked with a local manufacturer to ensure the highest possible quality, with important features and improvements over other models. Rust-proof, 304 stainless steel tub and handle mount. Clear plastic lid with knob lets you see inside as you wash. Unit is welded for extra strength (other models are soldered). Wooden legs with steel reinforcing crossbars at each end. Heavy-duty plastic fittings are easily replaceable and found at most hardware stores.
• 36"Hx231/2"Lx23"W, holds 15 gallons, 30 lb. USA made.

And it only costs...

$650 with a wringer
$499 without the wringer


Ah.... someday....

Days off are nice...

Well, I go back to work on Monday... I know I'm going to be homesick for staying at home, again, as I will have not worked for 5 days in a row, making it possible to cook and bake and unpack (some) and spend time with my husband. We think we have figured out a plan to where in about a year we'll have most of our debts paid off and I can quit work and stay at home again! Then I can work on preparations for gardening and the winter and plans for our house we will someday build and my crafts I want to sell and everything else. We have found a church on our walks that is less than 10 blocks away from the house. I think we might try it soon...

My Display at the Library

This past month I had the display at the local library. I filled the display case with the bells that I have been collecting most of my life. My first one was at a Bible Study Christmas party with my mom when I was very young. I wanted to share it with you today. Here's what they said on the website about them, and pictures of them in the display.

Dawn has been collecting bells since she was five years old. She enjoys searching for bells when traveling and family & friends bring Dawn bells that they find on travels also. Check out the bells in various sizes and from states & countries.

Life is a little better... 3 days off coming!

Well, the Father-in-law has come and gone. And it really wasn't as bad as expected. He took me grocery shopping! We got all caught up on buying laundry soap making stuff, and toiletries and some of the groceries I couldn't get close to my house for good prices. I even went with him by myself.... I was very intimidated, but it went well. We talked about alot of things, and he has shown that he really isn't as scary as he and everyone else tries to make him out to be. He took us out to eat a couple of times (a great treat, as we haven't been to a restaurant for quite a while). We got to go to the church that we are members of, but haven't been to in a while, as it's 4 miles away and we don't want to walk that far and then walk to work, and walk around work and walk home from work (I WOULD DIE!). Very good to go home again. Oh, and I have 3 days off this week, in a row! I'm hoping to get my craft area organized so I can make some curtains for the house, and get some baking done!

Well, we think the money problems aren't going to be as dramatic as we thought. They still may be somewhat. And, Katie, we are planning a rummage sale, but it's getting to late in the year for it now, and I'm really not ready, and I can't get off work, so we're going to have one, with my landlord in the spring. I'm wanting to start making some craft items to sell online, but I'm really nervous, as I've never done this before. My mom has been buying some of my plastic canvas baby blocks from me though, that's been some good extra money.

Dollar General Update:

We have an ad starting today, lots of good stuff on sale. I'll try to post it tomorrow, but I'm not sure, I don't have one with me. I do know that we have this going on:

*Clover Valley Soda - Buy 2 get one free (3 for $1.50)
*Green Dot (Summer Stuff) Still 70% off
*Red Dot (Back to School) is 50%
*Seeds are 90% off!!!!
*Yellow Dot (Summer Clothes) are 50% off

Most stores should have at least some of their Christmas stuff out, and we've got some really good stuff this year. Halloween and Fall Home stuff is also out already!

Money Stinks...

Well, my Father-in-law is in town to visit for the weekend. Ok, so he's not here yet, but he's coming in this evening, and leaving Sunday afternoon. The house is not finished getting unpacked, both DH & I are working all weekend, my friend that just got married is coming in tomorrow to see me for a bit, and take me to a rummage sale, and we some how have to make money appear from nowhere. I have rent, old landlord, and storage unit rent all due in the next 2 weeks. I'll get paid 2 times, DH gets paid once. And our bank account is already over-drafted (long story short, I hate banks...) So please pray for us as we go through this. It should be interesting. I did end up with two days off this past week, so that was good, I got a chance to rest and work on the house. We did, however walk the mile to Wal-Mart to find out that they don't cash personal checks (I should have known that), and walked home empty handed. It has been an emotional week, and I'm sure its bound to get worse before it gets better...

Help Fund Free Mammograms

One of the blogs that I follow regularly, Thrifty Mommy, had a link to this site on her site today, and I thought I would pass it along to everyone here. All you have to do is go to the site and click on the button, and sponsors pay for free mammograms for women who can't afford one!

Here's a recipe from the 1970 Pillsbury Bake-Off!

Pie Crust Peanut Crispies

1 package (9 1/2 oz) Pillsbury Pie Crust Mix or 2 Sticks Pillsbury Flaky Pie Crust Sticks, crumbled
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons water

Oven 375* Makes about 48 cookies

Combine all ingredients. Stir until mixture forms a dough. Shape into 1-inch balls, using about 1 teaspoon dough for each. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with a fork which has been dipped in sugar. Bake at 375* for 8 to 10 minutes until light golden brown and slightly puffy. Cool cookies slightly before removing from cookie sheets.

More good deals!

Well... On the way to work yesterday we went back by the rummage sale, and I got some more stuff... This time I got a stack of cookbooks for $.25 each, a book from the 60's on manners (it's a school textbook), a willow tree angel for $1.00!!! and I got one of those old plastic tupperware (I think) measuring/mixing bowls for $.10!!!! I'm very much looking forward to the idea of having internet at home someday, as this whole walking a mile to get on to check my email is not such a hot idea somedays.

The Cookbooks I got are:

Pillsbury's Bake-Off Cook Book (1970)
250 Ways to Prepare Meat (1940)
Money Saving Main Dishes (1970)
Joys of Jell-o (1963)
A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes (ca. around 1978)
Recipe Magic with 57 Heinz Soups (1947)
All States Bicentennial Cook Book (1976)
250 Ways to Serve Fresh Vegetables (1940)

No recipe today, I have to be at work in a bit and still have alot of emails to sort through... Sorry :(

Plain Living and the World...

My husband and I have been walking alot lately. Our car is back to being broke down, and since we live in town and want to get in better shape anyway, we've been walking everywhere. Today alone, by the end of the day we will both have walked at least 4-5 miles. (We went grocery shopping today). Anyway.... I've been observing people as we walk, the way people treat us and look at us in our semi-plain clothing.
For the last 8-9 months of my senior year I attended a Bible Holiness High School. In doing this, I had to adhere to their dress code of long skirts, shirts with elbows and collars covered, hair up. I have been trying to follow this more often now, out of convenience and comfort, as well as feeling more led to dress more modestly. I still wear shorts and pants around the house and doing outdoor work, but if I'm leaving the house I throw on a skirt. And with it being warm, and when the sun is out, I've been wearing a hat to cover my head and face from the sun. My husband has been wearing short sleeve or long sleeve button up shirts and long pants, accompanied by a felt hat most of the time while outdoors.
During our walks, we've noticed that alot of people are nicer to us, opening doors for us, letting us cross the street before they pull out, and such. The funny part is alot of people drive past with their mouths open, staring at us. I laugh as this happens, but it also makes me think. Makes me think about our brothers and sisters in the Amish and Mennonite communities, our Quaker brothers and sisters, our other plain brothers and sisters, and what they go through everyday, humbling themselves before God and others with their dress.



Well, I was going to continue on with the University of Oklahoma notebook, but with us walking, and it's fragile state, I'm going to take a break from it, until I can figure out a way to transport it without compromising its fragile state. However, on our way to the library today, we walked past a rummage sale that looked of interest. We walked up and I thought I was in heaven. It looked like an older lady was cleaning out years of party ware and cook ware as well as her sewing and craft stuff. There were other things as well, but I didn't look at that as much. I bought a good size bag full of recipes and recipe books for $1!!!!! I also got some mini cake tins for $0.75, a fry basket in really good shape for $0.25 and some copper colored metal salt and pepper shakers for $0.25!!!! There was also a rubbermaid tub (the smaller of the larger tubs) full of plastic canvas, embroidery, and cross stitch, some projects started, alot of untouched patterns, but it didn't have a price on it. The little old man wouldn't let me buy it without talking to his wife, so my husband is going back after I go to work to try and get it. I'm hoping for $5! There was alot of fabric and patterns, that I might go back tomorrow and look at. Well, here's a recipe from my pile!


Gingerbread

1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted fat
1/2 cup sour milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
nutmeg

Mix ingredients in order given, sifting soda with flour before adding.
Bake in slow oven in greased shallow pan.

(After note: 300*F for 35 minutes)

Clothesline Poem

I recieved this in a group I'm in and just had to share it.

A clothes line was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
when clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the'fancy sheets'
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the'company table cloths'
With intricate design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung.
So carefully with pride.
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It said, 'Gone on vacation now'
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told,'We're back!' when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way..
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!



Well, I have tomorrow off work, so I might be able to come up and post a receipe or two. The old landlord finally had us sign a promissory note, saying we would pay $300 a month for several months to have him paid off. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with all the other bills paying $300 a month to him, $275 a month to the new landlord, $180 to a credit card, and other various bills. Ah, life... I can't wait for our debt free days on the farm. Someday....

Less Common Ways to Prepare Fruit

Ok... I think I've just decided to stick with the 1936 University of Oklahoma Home Ec. Notebook for a while. There's alot of good stuff in here. I was totally born in the wrong era. I so wish I could have gone to college during the era of the housewife!!!

Less Common Ways to Prepare:

1. Apples: polished and sliced crosswise;

peeled, scored with form from stem to blossom end and sliced;

balls, cut with a vegetable scoop.

2. Avocado: cocktail - 1/3 avocado, 2/3 pineapple cut in dice, lemon juice salt and paprika;

another cocktail: cut avocado and fresh tomato into balls, add french dressing;

salad: add mashed avocado to French dressing and pour over lettuce or other vegetable; combine with grapefruit or asparagus;

a sandwich filling: crush and mix with mayonnaise.

3. Bananas: peas in a pod

peel opened petal wise and served on paper doilie on plate with a fork;

bake in peel, slit open, add a bit of butter, serve hot.

4. Fresh pineapple: separate buds; serve 5 or 6 on a plate with a mound of sugar; use pineapple quills for garnishes

5. Grapes: cut in small clusters, serve on leaves of grape or hybiscus;

separate the grapes from the bunch leaving the short stems, dip in melted fondant.

6. Grapefruit: In basket or half grapefruit

In halves -- edges garnished with chopped parsley

7. Lemons for garnishing:

see illustrations on cards and in New Book of Cookery p. 395

prepare at least 6 ways

8. Oranges: on ribbon;

in blanket of whole orange;

sections in peel;

lunch basket oranges;

orange roses made of peel are nice candied and as a garnish.

9. Strawberries: Serve clean and cold, unstemmed on a leaf.

Fold back blossom and dip in malted malted fondant

10. Tangerines: Prepare as oranges on ribbon

or as sections in peel

11. Cranberries: Candied- (prick berries to prevent bursting)

1 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup water; boil to a thread (242*F)

Add 1 quart large red cranberries and simmer 5 minutes.

Remove from fire. Cover pan and let stand overnight.

Next day heat slowly and let simmer until berries are transparent.

Strain out the berries and drop into a platter of granulated sugar.

Place in a slow oven to dry a little.

Party Iced Tea

(Prepare 1/4)

1 quart hot water

Few sprigs mint or 1/2 teaspoon mint extract (spearmint)

2 cups sugar syrup

2 lemons

4 Tablespoons tea

ice

Steep the tea with the mint leaves 5 minutes. Add the syrup and lemon juice and strain. If the extract is used add it after straining.

And since I won't be on tomorrow, since it's Sunday, here's a bonus recipe!!!

Orange or Grape Albumin

(Prepare 1)

1 orange, juice or 4 Tablespoons grape juice

1 egg white

sugar

chopped ice

Add the white unbeaten to the fruit juice which has been sweetened to taste. Cut in the white with scissors. Chill or add chipped ice and serve. The egg should not be evident at all.

Meat to Fruit Combinations... and then a recipe

This is out of the 1936 University of Oklahoma Home Ec Notebook as well...

Appropriate Combinations follow:

Chicken -- Cranberry Sauce

Jellied Gooseberries

Pickled Peaches or Pears

Pineapple

Apricots

Cold Meat -- Lemon

Duck -- Orange Slices

Current Jelly

Fish -- Gooseberry Sauce

Pickled Pears

Pickled Peaches

Apple sauce

Ham -- Fried Pineapple

Fried Apples

Lamb -- Baked Bananas

Current Jelly

Mint Jelly

Mutton -- Current Jelly

Mint Jelly or Sauce

Pork -- Apricots, glazed

Apples, sauce or fried

Quince

Plums

Roast Beef -- Raisins in stuffing or as a sauce

Cherries

Bananas, sauted

Peaches, roll in cream and brown with meat

Pears

Tomatoes

Squab -- Current Jelly

Turkey -- Cranberries, sauce, jelly or ice

Veal -- Apples, glazed, tart

Venison -- Current Jelly

Gooseberry sauce

Plum sauce or jelly

Spiced Tea

(Prepare 1/4)

1 quart tea beverage (Orange Pekoe and Oolong are good types to use)

2 lemons, juice

2 cups sugar syrup

1 Tablespoon whole cinnamon, cloves, ginger

1/4 teaspoon mint extract or mint leaves

Make a syrup of sugar and water using about 1 cup sugar to 2 cups water. Add the spices and boil for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice, extract and tea. Serve hot.

I thought with the weather turning cooler in some places (it's getting warmer again here) this might be a nice warm drink to cuddle up with a good book with.

The Cookbooks have arrived!

So... now that I'm officially moved (YAY!!! Now for the yucky part of unpacking and organizing while working...) I can get back to what this blog was created for. I'm really excited because my cookbooks that I posted about before arrived yesterday! So I'm going to start posting recipes and such from them and a couple others that I have lying around. Just to give you an idea of what I'm using I'll give you a bibliography (big word for a list of the books I'm going to use).

Hows and Whys of Cooking
By Evelyn G. Halliday and Isabel T. Noble (both Home Economics professors from the
University of Chicago)
Printed by The University of Chicago Press in Chicago, Illinois in 1929
(This one is it's 3rd printing, the first was in 1928)


Ladies' Home Journal Cookbook
Edited by Carol Truax
Printed by Doubleday & Company in Garden City, New York in 1960
(This one is a first edition!!!)


University of Oklahoma School of Home Economics Advanced Foods Course Notebook
Most of which is written by Laura A. Miller
Printed in 1936
(You can find pictures of this one in an earlier post, it's the coolest!!!)

Ok, so here's today's sampling of what is to come.


From the University of Oklahoma Home Ec Notebook

Iced-Tea Cubes

1 orange, juice
3 lemons, juice
2 cups water
3 inches whole cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon mint extract

Pour 2 cups hot water over the spices and let stand until cold. Add the fruit juices and extract. Maraschino cherries may be added for garnish. Freeze in the electric trays. Serve in iced tea.


I think that's all I will post for now. I can't wait to try this though. DH's grandma was a home-ec teacher who went to college at K-State (Kansas State University) in the 40's. He said she used to make this as a special treat, just for the Grandkids.



********Dollar General Savings!!!***********

The lawn and garden stuff has gone to 70% off!!!! That includes the decor/kitchen/and other stuff that's with that. (Anything with a green dot)

The summer toys/swim stuff is 50% off!!!!

The summer clothes are now 50% off!!!! (anything with a yellow dot)

The back to school stuff is now 25% off!!!! (anything with a red dot)

Moving 101...

Ok, so I hate moving. I have always thought I liked moving, but I think that was because I was in denial as I have moved too many times to count in my life (literally, it definitely is over 15 times in 22 years.) I would so much rather just pack everything up, have a mover come, and move thousands of miles, than move across town.

We are still not completely moved. Our old landlord is being hateful about it. We are late on rent for him, one of the many reasons we are moving. He is trying to bully us into moving out before our 30 days is over. We emailed him about a week ago telling him that we would be moving. He has been emailing us for that week telling us he wants us out immediately. I told him that we would move as quickly as I could and that his bullying would do no good, as we had already talked to the police, and they told us that as long as we are out by our 30 day mark, we are good. Praying that he doesn't do something stupid.

Our new house has prooved its challenges, but we are loving it. I have pictures, but until we can get them developed onto a cd I have no way to get them onto here (the same with the wedding I was in). The cats are enjoying it, there are a few holes in the drywall that they climb in and out of. We mapped out our garden, and started the compost pile last night. I think he said the garden will be like 60 ft x 30 ft. It's pretty big. I can't wait for all the canning and freezing next year! I'm really looking forward to making soups and stews this winter. I need to go to the storage building and get the heaters out, it's getting cold. It's been rainy and cold the last few days. One reason we haven't got much moving done. DH got a bit sick from moving in it the other day. He seems to be feeling better.

I'm really excited because I got my membership packet from Mary Jane's Farm yesterday. I'm an official Farmgirl!!!

Well I think thats all for now. I'm going to try to keep updating every few days, but right now with moving and I'm going to be picking up extra shifts at work next week, I'll do what I can!

Moving... part 2

So... the hateful landlord emailed my husband back and said we now have to be out of the house by Friday and have it cleaned by Saturday at 2 when he comes to change the locks. And that a new tenant is moving in on Sunday. And mentioned something about court. So we emailed him back and said that we will be out of town on Saturday (as he wanted us to come back over and do some last minute cleaning after he inspects it) but could do the last minute details on late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I hate to miss church, but I have a feeling, that for this to go well, since I am using up all of my days off for the coming week for the wedding and moving, that we will have to skip church and move. We also told him we would pay him an outrageous amount (more than we are paying in rent for the new house) every month for several months, to more than pay him off. Praying that God with soften his heart so that he not take us to court.
So we think that we have found a home for our freezer full of food for the couple of days between, but we still can't figure out what we are going to do with our two cats for those days. :( We can't afford to board them, I'm not leaving them in the car, and I don't want to leave them in the hotel room while we're gone (given that the hotel may or may not allow animals).
So now, all I'm left with is packing, moving and my checklist of other things... Let's see.

*Get a storage unit - done
* Get more boxes
* Get car door fixed (explain that one later) - hubby's at home doing that now
* Get mail forwarded - done
*Switch over electric - we have to pay them, and then they will
*Turn off gas - I have to remember to call them when they're open.
*Turn on water - ditto

Evicting Ourselves...

So.... we're behind on rent... and we have a hateful landlord who has been doing not so nice things to us. So we decided to evict ourselves. We emailed the landlord to tell him we will be out by the first of the month, we rented a storage unit today (we got a 10 x 10 for $37.50) and we can start moving things into the new house on Sunday. So bright and early Sunday morning we will be moving things to the new house. We are hoping to have everything to the storage building that goes there before then, so that we don't have that much left to do Sunday. This will be a crazy endeavor, as you may recall that we are going to a wedding Friday and Saturday. Well.... DH isn't working at all this week except for Wednesday 3-11 (He had vacation time to take for the wedding), and I'm working closing today, opening tomorrow, opening wednesday and off for the rest of the week. Pray for us as we do this. We really feel like Satan has a hold of this house that we are moving from, I have had a headache everytime I start to pack, and have had to work alot while we are doing this. Pray.... Thanks in advance...

Yay! Ebay!

We bought some awesome stuff on Ebay yesterday and I just had to show everyone... I will totally share some of the stuff out of the notebook on here when I get it next week in the mail!!! There are pictures following the descriptions, they are just the pictures off of ebay, but it gives you an idea of why I'm so excited!

HOWS AND WHYS OF COOKING HALLIDAY AND NOBLE. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HOME ECONOMICS SERIES. COPYRIGHT 1929. HARDCOVER 179 PAGES. WELL USED AND STUDIED BOOK, LOOSE SPINE, WRITING IN PENCIL SOME STAINING, NO MISSING PAGES.

This is an incredible collection of literally several hundred vintage recipes taken from the typewritten notes of an advanced home economics class at the University of Oklahoma during the years 1935-36. There are approximately 136 pages that are typed on 8 ½ x 11 inch papers and are in a metal-edged binder. Some of the rare and unique recipes are:
Rhubarb Punch
Cream of Cherry Soup
Steak & Kidney Pie
Marshmallow Peanut Brittle
Icebox Cake
Poinsettia Salad
Water Lily Salad
Chocolate Cornstarch
Welch Rarebit
Prune Pudding
Hard Soap
Mock Sweet Breads
Penuche
Loganberry Sherbet
Junket Ice Cream
Vinegar Taffy
Mint Dumplings
Ripe Olive Bread
Tomato Jelly
Creole Stew

The list goes on and on! The student wrote in some personal notes on some of the pages, including the cost of making the recipes. There are also some interesting charts included. The pages have some worn edges, some small tears and some spotting on them. They are somewhat fragile but very legible and usable, especially considering they are over 80 years old. This was a rare find from an estate sale.

Yucky Mildew and other stuff...

My front living room closet has a leak in it that has been there since we moved in. I thought it had been fixed or magically went away or something, but I hadn't opened the door for about 3-4 months, and I got in there the other day and all of my scrap fabrics and remnants I had bought and put away for another time had gotten wet and mildewed... :( This made me sad. But this gave me a chance to tell everyone about my laundry soap!!! I make it myself, and it started from a recipe out of the Reader's Digest "Homemade" Book, and it's kinda starting to evolve. Here's what it is now:

1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup soap flakes ( I use ivory right now, but thinking about changing... maybe safeguard)

1/2 cup color safe bleach

1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup washing soda

You use 1/4 cup of the mixture in a load. I make up a huge batch at one time, and store it in a rubbermaid type container (the shoebox size, but wanting to move up in size).

I also use liquid fabric softener in the wash, as I line dry all of our clothes now (unless I need something in a hurry, because I don't plan ahead enough yet) Wanting to try vinegar, but don't want my clothes to smell like that...

I washed my mildewed yucky fabrics and other things in this, and I only had 3-4 pieces, that looked like they were probably stained before hand, that I had to throw away, and there's still a few more that I will probably have to throw away most of it, but there was 3-4 yards there, and some of its still ok, so I'll wait till I can save the ok parts.


I'm really excited because we discovered in all of the remnants a piece of lovely sage green colored fabric with a print on it similar to a paisley. Theres probably about 2-3 yards of it, and I wrapped it around myself and there's enough for a skirt!!! Now I just have to find a pattern, and get new sewing machine needles (I keep breaking mine, as I'm more daring than my sewing machine...)

P.S. BTW, I've started another blog for the personal story stuff, so that this one can be completely homesteading/homemaking related. It can be found at http://www.farmgirlsdreams.blogspot.com/ Just thought I'd let you know...

Mary Jane's Farm...

I have recently been introduced to the wonderful world of MaryJane's farm. I absolutely love her website and I can't wait until I have $40 that isn't going somewhere else, so I can sign up for the farmgirl connection, and subscribe to her magazine. We went hunting for a place to buy her magazine around here, and the only place we found it is at our TSC (Tractor Supply Company). I'm so excited about this one, as it has some patterns in it for bloomers and some skirts and some really cute camisoles!!! I can't wait until I have room to sew!!!! For anyone who wants to check out her website, it is www.maryjanesfarm.com She has things to buy, and ideas, and all kinds of wonderful "farmgirl" things!

Life...

As I have gotten older, I know that I haven't learned everything there is for me to learn yet, but I have learned a few things. It frustrates me very much when people look down on me or me and my husband, because we are young or because we haven't been married long. It really frustrates me that in America, the middle class doesn't really have a place, even though this really is a country founded for the middle class, and to get rid of the classes, isn't it? According to the government, my husband and I aren't poor, but because of all of our bills, we don't have the money to cover everything. And because we "aren't poor" we can't get assistance. I see this as a very big flaw that someone needs to fix. There are too many people out there like us who need help and can't get it, and too many people who are just doing what they have to to get the assistance. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. Because I work, and my husband works, and we don't have children, we can't get food assistance. We make right at the amount for the cut off... if we made $50 less a month, we could get assistance. If I was pregnant, we still couldn't get food stamps, but we could get WIC (I think, I really haven't looked into the requirements, as it really doesn't pertain to me right now). Until we have a child, we can't get the help. Well, I neither want to bring a child up in a home like this right now, or do we have the money to take care of a child. I have too many friends who sit at home, with their $400 a month in food stamps, and their husbands work to pay the rest of the bills, while we are slaving away, trying to keep the electricity on and a roof over our heads and our butts out of court! My DH has decided that he's going to write to our congressman about this, and I haven't decided yet if I'm going to just sign my name to his or write my own, but something has to be done about this.


On a happier note.... I've decided that I'm going to start posting the Dollar General sales on here to help everyone... (I work at DG). So, here's what we have on sale right now.


* Most of the swimming/sunscreen/outside toys are 25% off right now.
* The gardening/outdoor entertaining stuff went to 50% off.
* Also we have a few wedding items and some blenders/snocone machines and the like that are 50% off.

And if you can find them,
*There are some automotive/stationary/and kids toys and various other things that are now 90% off!

Hope someone can get some good out of that!

Date with my honey at 1:30 am

Tonight from 1:00 am to sunrise (times variable by when the moon sets) there will be a meteor shower! We are planning on heading out of town somewhere (not sure where yet) to see it. It will probably be cold again tonight (last night it got down to mid 60's) so I might make some hot chocolate and take some blankets.... :) Sounds romantic!

Finally a Bridesmaid...

Well, in 20 days I am finally going to get my chance to be a bridesmaid! There have been 4-5 friends who have told me that I would get to be a bridesmaid, and either they got married at the courthouse or they got married far away and didn't invite me or something, but I've never actually made it to the wedding being a bridesmaid. I'm very excited about this one! My dress is a two piece (making it easier to put on by myself), the top is sleeveless but very high necked, and the skirt is ankle length. It is green. Have I mentioned I'm excited yet? :) I think that's all for now... Oh, we have a tomato about ready to pick! BTW, DH told me to let everyone know that our tomato plant is in a 5-gallon bucket, that makes it more impressive that we have 12 at once!

Stolen Bicycle...

I am very upset, and I just wanted to let everyone know that it is not ok to steal a persons mode of transportation. My husband and I's bikes were stolen this afternoon and I am very mad about it, and even more mad about the fact that in this day and age there is nothing we can do about it. In Mayberry, people would have gone to jail for such a thing, and now we can't do anything but sit at home with no way around town. Something is wrong with this situation. Why can't I just move to a farm, where all of my equipment would be locked away safe in the shed. Just because I can't afford something like that doesn't mean that the hoodlums should come and steal what is rightfully mine. The thing that is very aggrivating about this is the fact that my husbands bike was on our front porch, right next to the door. They would have had to come up on the porch to have stolen it. That's some pretty brave stupid people if you ask me. Ok, well I think that's all for now...

Day Dreaming...

Today has been a day for day dreaming. This has been my 3rd day off in a row, getting to spend them all with DH. I love weeks like this! The only problem is they make me hungry for the days to come when I will be a stay at home wife and mother, tending to my garden, and my home. We first went up to Dollar General, where I work, and bought some gardening things, some window boxes and such. We are trying to plant as much as we can in containers, and then we'll do the rest (hopefully) at another location, as we are about to go month to month with our lease, and we're hoping to not be there much longer. We're just looking for somewhere we can live for the next 3-5 years until we move to our dream.

We then went to get our hair cut, at the local beauty school. Can't beat $5 a hair cut, especially when all I get done is a simple trim. I love tips such as this. Then we went to another Dollar General (our "metro" area has like 10) looking for more gardening stuff (It's 25% off right now). We made our way over to Big Lots and Atwoods (In the same shopping center, for added savings on gas!) and got a birthday present for a friend, and some discount groceries. Now we're at the library using the computers (more savings as we don't use the electricity for the computer or the phone/internet bill!)

***** Our Tomato Plant has 10 tomatoes on it right now!!!!!!! *****

A Journey...

(this post has been moved from my old blog...)

That is definitly what this has been and what it continues to be. My husband and I have been married for a year and a half, and we are continuing on the road to self sufficiency and debt free living. When we began December 2006 we were $23,000 in debt, and trying to live on one income, in a small apartment in town. We are now $18,000 in debt, both of us are working, and we still live in a small apartment in town, but this one it a bit bigger than the last. We have begun the transformation.

We have a small clothesline that we have erected outside, and a small retracting clothesline that is in our bathroom for unmentionables. We have a small, container garden of herbs and a tomato plant on our front porch. We are currently looking for an empty lot somewhere close in town that we can rent to put in a canning garden next spring. Although we live in town (UGH...) we are continuing these things that I'm sure our neighbors think are crazy. We make our sun tea (in two separate jars, unsweet & sweet) daily, and hang our wash to dry. We walk and bike to work and to run errands, and ride our towns "trolley" for public transportation, and when our car is running, if we need to get somewhere else we take it.

We are not alone in this journey. My parents, who are moving to Indiana in a year, to further the dream on our family farm, are also slowly making their way to self-sufficiency and debt-free living. We also have our "fur-babies" that keep us company as we travel along. We have two cats, Max (a 2 1/2 year old Russian Blue) and Princess (a 1 1/2 year old American Shorthair Calico with an attitude). They help keep spirits light.

I hope that I can give inspiration to others traveling on this road, or others who have not yet begun that have a glimmer of the same dream. I hope that I can share ideas that I come up with, and that the vintage homesteaders out there might be able to help us along the way as well. Someday, we will make it to the dream!