Cooking up a Cook book

I have a passion for cook books.I read them like the juiciest novel.I take them to bed with me to read myself to sleep. I keep a stack of them on the coffee table where most people house magazines. The best ones are vintage ones,they not only have long forgotten recipes.sometimes for the better but in their backs are usually a "helpful hints" section.Tidbits of archaic home keeping using items that are no longer made and entailing more work than a modern woman wants to do.
I am working on writing a cook book for our boys. Both boys want my recipes and cook books.You see in their youthfulness they can't see that, just because they will someday move into their own homes where they will have to feed themselves , I won't be dead; I'll still need those books and recipes.
Looking through my Holly Hobbie recipe file that was full of clippings the wheels in my head started to turn, a seed of an idea was planted that could grow into the cookbook for the boys.Then Chance brought out my own recipe box and my grandmothers.
Let me side track for a moment.My grandmother's recipe box really added to my thoughts on my book to be written.When grandma died no one wanted her recipe box.I did but I always seem to want the things no one else wants.One mans trash is another man's treasure.
Grandma was a horrible cook, that is why no one wanted it. I think every one of my cousins were remembering Tater Tot Casserole. The one dish Grandma made every single time one of us grand kids came to visit.The dish that made all of us gag and forget we were hungry.Layers of tater tots,hamburger,cream of mushroom soup and topped with cheese.Trauma at the dinner table. No wonder Grandpa was so lean and the cat so fat.
When I opened Grandma's box there was the jewel, that moment of bliss,my treasure in the trash,Grandma's handwriting.Neatly written with excellent directions and notes about her results or changes. And two of my Aunt's handwriting and way in the back the name of the recipe written in Norwegian my Great Grandma's writing.
That moment of pleasure is what I want to capture as I write this crazy book. I want the boys to someday open their book and be able to say."Look here's mom's,Nana's,Great Grandma and Great Great Grandma's writing." My boys are tender heart- ed family orientated kind of guys, they will get it . My vision, part cook book,family tree and family history all bound together.
Not a new idea,many families have these books but I am inspired none the less.It has motivated me to sort through my own recipes and pitch the ones that were bad or never made. Issac also reminded me to start writing down the measurements for things I just make. I have a few years until at least Issac is out the door I should be able to have the book ready for him.
Homesteading has slowed down a bit.The weather is wet and cool here.We started to put parts of the garden to bed for the winter.My hens are still not laying.They are excused for now because they are molting.Poor Abby is nearly naked and just as the weather turned.(how dose that work? They molt just as the weather is cold.) Two more weeks and the Sour Kraut will be ready to can. Just settling in for the coming months focusing our work towards indoor projects.

Rois

What the..?!

It's amazing where pumpkin goo lands when you use power tools to carve pumpkins.It was fun and I'll wait until day light comes to find the rest.
Happy Halloween,
Rois

Take a can of soup and serve it up with Holly Hobbie.

What to write to all of you.? I could write about the chaos that is my front room. Chance is still working on painting it and along the way he's doing some repair work he discovered that had to be done now verse later. The chaos is getting to me,when you live in a small space and use every single inch it gets tough to have things turned up side down. The wall color is beautiful and will be worth the extra waiting.


Over the weekend I found a treasure that I am sure only I would view as one.I found at our Goodwill Bins a 1970's recipe file,sunny yellow with one of the icon's of my youth standing on the front,Holly Hobbie. The folder is accordion style filled with clippings starting in the mid 70's.I thumb through all of them.There were lots of add a can of___soup, a box of Jello some Coolwhip and even one recipe that called for 3 teaspoons of MSG. MSG?! People really used that stuff,wow so not the earthy hippie fare my Mom cooked.








I found it to be a sad thing to find thrown away like that.Someone had cared enough about their family to file away all of those bits of paper,carefully trimmed,folded and tucked into its appropriate niche. A nifty time capsule of food trends, advertisements and even a credit bill that was so politely written.
I do wonder though did this person know they had clipped and saved 9 Chicken and Rice Bake recipes from the Campbell's soup can's?
I found one clipping I do remember having someplace.You took a cake mix,baked it and then poked holes in the cooled cake top.Now you poured Jello over the cake,put it in the fridge to set up.Finally top with, you'll never guess,Coolwhip. MMM Chemical goodness.

Rois

P.S In the background of the photos you can kind of see the new blue paint I am so in love with.

Quilters I have a question

I know some of my readers are Quilters,out of all of the five million skills including sewing I have I know zip about quilts. So I am asking if my idea sounds workable with the hopes that one of you will pipe up and give me a little input.
We have a vintage quilt that is a lap size that I use in the living room.We all fight over who gets the quilt in the evenings,that's how much we love it.It is also a perfect color combo for the front room.
It's a simple pattern of 4 sections of checkers,I guess that's what it would be at least in my mind.
Here is the problem,only one section of the quilt has some squares that are shredding with age. It is only the one fabric,everywhere else is reasonable for the age of the quilt.What I'd like to do is patch over the worst squares with a new fabric that has a vintage print,to try and stay in keeping with the rest. Will patching work?
Really, we love this little softy and I would love for it to keep doing its job.

Feedback,comments, What in the H*ll are you thinking, or any other response will be greatly appreciated.
Rois

Pardon the dust

Pardon the dust and cobwebs, I am dismantling the front room to prep it for fresh paint. How do cobwebs find the places they hang? With the walls bare and the sun shining I can see the reasoning for making such a mess.I can't wait to see it all put back,freshened up and homey once more.
Rois

Sweet and Sour

Even without a plan for the weekend I was right and we filled our days up.We were all work and no play,this led us to a conversation about that,these mice need some play time too and must not always be the busy Ant. A few stolen hours to be the Grasshopper will do us good but that will be next weekend.
Saturday was busy but not with homesteading,we babysat our young neighbor while his younger sibling was rushed to the ER for some stitches. She'll be fine,these things happen when one is young. I must say I did adore our boys as young ones but, whew I had forgotten how busy they are at 4.We made it through,never underestimate the power of a large bin of Lego's and never be tempted to get rid of any you have,you may need them someday before your Grand-babies come along.
Sunday we decided to go ahead and start the Sauerkraut.This is a new item for canning for both of us.At first we were going to try the method of putting the cabbage into canning jars to ferment,you then process the jars later,but I was not to sure about this idea.I don't know why but it worried me.I was also wondering if we would have to use new lids once the kraut was ready to process.Since we could not find the answer to the lid question we opted to make it in a large container and transfer to jars later.
Oops, we had no crock or large glass anything.We did some double checking and ended up wanting a food grade bucket,the modern equivalent to a crock. Since we needed dog food we went to our local market to start our search.We lucked out,the nice man that works in the bulk section was just finishing filling the honey machine thingy.He handed Chance two buckets right on the spot. And HOLY COW! there was still honey in both buckets,score! Once home we scraped the honey out and ended up with 2 pints,one of blackberry and one of clover honey. We felt safe about the honey,the buckets still had their lids on all the way home so nothing could fall into the honey.
Earlier in the morning we had went to a local farm store and bought a 12 pound head of cabbage,we also had 2 smaller heads weighing 2 pounds each already here.Chance thinly sliced the cabbage heads and I salted. We placed the cabbage in a large bowl and once we reached 5 pounds I tossed the cabbage with 3 tablespoons of Canning Salt. I had to keep emptying the bowl into the bucket so we could keep going.Once we had all of the cabbage into the bucket we jammed it all down as tight as we could get.Our Ball book said the brine,which is the water the salt draws from the cabbage,should cover the top of the sliced cabbage.This actually took Chance's stronger arms to do.We then placed a cloth over the cabbage then, a plate with Chance's 30 pound Kettleball wrapped in a plastic bag as the weight. Now we wait for 4-6 weeks before we process it. The bucket-o-kraut to be is living on a section of our kitchen counter so I can keep my nose on it.I am certain if something goes wrong we will smell it first.
Today as I went to put something away in the pantry/studio I remember I had intended to share something with all of you.Years ago a friend of ours told me she and her parents always pulled their tomato plants that still had fruit coming before it frosted.How they did it was to pull the plants up by their roots and then they hung the plants with their fruits still on the vine upside down in their garage.The tomatoes then can finish ripening and you have fresh tomatoes for a few more weeks. This year we are trying it and so far it is working.I read someplace that it is not sunlight but warmth the tomatoes need to ripen so maybe this is how this works.
Still no eggs.
As of today I am starting to stash away odd ends and pieces of bread to make the Thanksgiving dressing/stuffing with. I know, no one has gone trick or treating yet and here I am planning out my Thanksgiving dinner. It takes a lot of bread to make enough stuffing for a 22 pound bird.And when the stores charge $3 a bag ( I'd need 4.) for dried out bread no one wanted I say no thanks I'll save my own unwanted bits of bread and make my own. To do this I put the bread pieces into a freezer container until I have enough to fill a cookie sheet.Then I cut the bread into strips like they do at the stores and place them on a cookie sheet.Put the cookie sheet into the oven that is preheated to around 200-250 degrees.Keep an eye on the bread,give it a stir once in awhile.You don't want toast or burning,just dried out.Store in an air tight container until you have enough to use.You can even turn the dried out bread into bread crumbs by giving the bread a whirl in the blender or a food processor.
Tip of the day: "Never eat anything bigger than your head"** - B. Kilban
** until you turn it into Sauerkraut.**

Rois

82 pounds = 410 Apples peeled and sliced

You know the movie "Forest Gump"? And the conversation about all the ways to cook shrimp? I feel over run by Apples, 82 pounds equals 410 apples more or less.Chance and I have peeled,sliced,processed and canned every single one.My hands are chapped and hurt. Ok maybe some of the pain is from bumping up my violin practice to an hour and half daily. But these hands of mine are stiff none the less. And as you can see from the photo above 82 pounds might not have been enough.The boys polished off a whole quart of Apple Sauce in one sitting.
How did my Great Grandparents do this? To put up enough food to last a whole year to feed a large family and sometimes a farm hand.There was no store to run to, the freezer was a hole dug into the cellar floor and town was a days journey away.
Grandma Barbara Ellen, can I channel you some how so I can gain your knowledge? Can you send me a message from the great beyond? So far channeling my Great Grandmothers has not worked.Great Grandma Elizabeth fiddled and was called to dances far and wide.When I play dose she help me? No,I still miss notes.Have I figured out the great math equation that is canning for a whole year no.Sorry but the number you calling is no longer in service or has been disconnected.DANG, I want my dime back!
I baked bread today,did more laundry, took inventory of the rest of my canning jars.It looks like I still have plenty of the wide mouthed ones to make a batch or two of Saurkraut. I went to the market for a few things we needed and tried really hard not to be so pissed that I was breaking down and BUYING eggs! BUYING EGGS, ugh store eggs suck.From here until spring eggs will be for baking only.No one will sit down and eat them. Then in the produce section I realized that soon our garden will be empty and I'll have to buy those things too.But, I did spy their Chantrell Mushrooms, $9.99 a pound,we have three pounds in the freezer, we saved nearly $30 by spending an afternoon in the woods having fun.
It is the weekend,no plan but I am sure we will find a way to fill the next couple of days.Bacon is coming out of the smoker before bedtime,maybe I'll make us a big breakfast minus the eggs. Damn birds you do this every year and it still bums me out.
Rois the egg-less Homesteader.