Playing with the new toys.
and the research thats going with it. RECIPIES - need to find good ones..

holidays have been fun and we recieved (& bought) some fun new toys.
one is called an Instapot - its a small (6qt) pressure cooker. less bulky than my pressure canners. (love them but they are rather large for day to day use)
so have gotten to play and so far am loving it
homemade mac & cheese and tomato soup..

now, mind you i could do these without this fancy critter..
BUT it was fast and easy and 'one'pot cooking.. so rather fun :)

i intend to use the thing at LEAST 3times a week for something.. going to see if i follow through on that lol but i LOVE soups and this baby shines for soup

oooh  ooooh did i mention the BEAUTIFUL kitchen-aid immersion blender (in Turquoise!!!!) that we got? perfection for blending the tomatoe soup -- heavenly!

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another 'fun' trinket.. little mini waffle maker..

we had a Large Belgium waffle maker - awesome beast - big and heavy. for only two of us - overkill - so it now resides with the kids & their kids!!  this little baby makes a single waffle just the right size to pop in a toaster.. so made a batch of batter - made breakfast for gr son & us and Still had enough batter to make then freeze about a dozen of them. will try them in the toaster when i have the littles here.. WAY better than buying frozen waffles at the store.. these i can make ANY time. :)
(i add extra eggs so higher nutrition too)

so much fun with 4 pretty gadgets :)

number four isnt a cooking pretty but a sewing one.. half way thru a marathon assembly line sewing session (making xmas gifts for 5 gr babies) the old machine up and died.. seriously dead.. it literally started screeching & then jammed. -- soooo not good.
hubby took me to wally world (plan was to give up and hit the toy aisle..3 days before xmas ya know)
but dear man took me over to the machines and said check them out.. then bought the one that seemed the most versatile for what i sew.. OH MY..

so gadget #4 was really gadget #1 lol & it came home and helped me finish all the gifts including small ornaments for all the grown ups.. its a Lovely little machine with lots of potential use..
sqeeeeeeeeeee!!!

midnight musings...

shade  and shadows
shadows and shade

have you ever noticed how the sky is lit affects how you perceive things??
or perhaps this is a desert thing....

on a clear day - a really clear day,  -- coming down the mountain road from the high desert to the low, the hills that stretch out across the valley from me, look as tho drawn in various shades of pastels that someone has then taken their thumb to, smudging and softening the edges.
surprising when the light itself is sharp & harsh.. this is the time one feels like you can just reach out and touch them, so lightly do they float in your vision.. one could believe that walking up there would be a gently quite stroll thru undulating hills & dales..

have seen paintings done of these hills, where the shades of lavenders & pinks are so rich they catch your breath, have heard people see such paintings and state mountains dont look like that!.. well sadly maybe their mountains dont.. but if you are lucky enough to be out at sunrise or just before dusk and the sky is lit just so.. for a few mesmerizing moments these colors will astound you..

there is such beauty here, there is such ruthlessness here.. both in the same breath.. a gut punch in perception at times

on a hazy cloudy day where the sky is patchy and shades of grey, i look at those same hills and they are sharp & clear, jagged edged as tho claws have caught them and pulled them asunder.. those curves no longer seem inviting when you can notice the sharpened outline of jagged teeth  even at this distance they are formidable and unfriendly...

i often hear of foolish souls who look up on those hills on clear days, thinking oh what a lovely day and lovely spot for a bit of hiking - just an hour or two.. and they take little or no supplies or precautions.. little knowing those hills bite the unwary. they all to often swallow them whole and Maybe someday will spit them back.. maybe..

for myself i Love these hills in all of their moods. i used to drive to work at sunrise and watch the pink shadows work their way up the mountain sides..i love their moods and i have a deep and abiding respect for their ways.. i have climbed a number of them, slid down too many rough bits of rock and sand, camped on the rim of arroyos, even poked my nose in a mine or two (not a smart move i admit)

as the sun would rise i would watch the great horned owls winging their way towards the foothills & their sleeping sites for the day.. have often noted a coyote or 3 quietly trotting back to where-ever their current den was to wait out the heat of the coming day.. have had the privilege to briefly share my day and my life with bobcat, desert fox, raven, raccoon, puma, packrat, cactus wren & roadrunner diamond back, sidewinder, chuckwalla, Coopers hawk, Kestrel & more.. i have been incredibly lucky and perhaps even blessed by them..
so many humans are utterly oblivious to the sheer number of wildlife that reside here.

knowing always that for all my love of these places, they do not love me.. they may seduce the viewer, entice them to come be 'one' with the desert. but for most its a false promise and is never ever a safe one. love the desert but NEVER forget she is a harsh mistress and will kill you as easily as she can provide food and shelter for those who pay attention..

thats another secret of our hills.. humans think they have 'tamed' the desert.. the desert meanwhile laughs and thumbs its nose at us knowing better..
the desert is fragile tho and easily damaged often beyond saving in places,

but in the overall scheme of things, its most likely that it will still be here, moving in its slow and stately (most of the time) rhythms - the hills will continue telling their stories even if its only to the mountains and the winds --
Long past when humans have gone the way of the neanderthals & dinosaurs...

THE GRAND PUMPKIN EXPERIMENT & not quite disaster

Now, understand, i AM a pumpkin-holic - I love the stuff!!!!!!!!
soooo.......
We canned pumpkin this weekend, pureed & dehydrated or froze puree. froze seeds for roasting later. sounds like a REALLY productive weekend doesnt it??

and it was.........
sort of.
at this point i am counting the weekend as "INSTRUCTIVE" rather than successful..first and foremost somehow i missed the memo that two medium lg pumpkins will give you more than 18cups of puree!!!! and that 2 LITTLE ones will FILL 10pints of pumpkin chunks.
yikes.. -- so now you can understand when i say i made a Major miscalculation when i talked my friend into getting 19 med lg pumpkins...

sigh.... FIRST mistake..
Second mistake - the Reason we bought 19 of them was the price (or rather LACK of price) you know that old saying 'you get what you paid for?? yea.... that...
these apparently were rather on the 'old side' -- not great texture - not great taste - not great smell when cooked..
Third mistake (besides how many) DID NOT take into consideration How HARD it is to cut and peel a pumpkin (tho the 2 little ones were easier to peel) ESPECIALLY if you dont have top of the line knives.
her son was taking bets on who would cut themselves first.. happily he lost That bet.. the worst part is both of us have Carpel Tunnel problems and just do NOT have the hand strength for this kind of project. i for one, if i am feeling this crazy ever again will need someone Else to cut them for me.
Fourth mistake.. dehydrating pumpkin (again sort of) - the dehydrator i picked up at a thrift store Works
and works well. got 5 small sheets of dried pumpkin after about 18hrs........
and i tried several trays in the oven as well which again kind of worked.. the oven was on nearly 18hrs.
and they are SORT of dehydrated. one tray was near burnt & the other two still a bit leathery-
i gave up at that point.. none appeared edible..------------------
Good to know things here: Dollar tree had packages of 10 sheets of parchment paper for $1 and they are just about PERFECT for this sort of thing.. DT also carries cheesecloth at a buck a whack.. good to know.
and btw Aluminum foil under the puree - Bad idea.. wont come OFF the dried puree..
so about 5 SMALL sheets of dried puree to run thru blender to powder it.. ALL that work and ALL that time for about maybe half a cup??? not seeing a good return on this one..
so what do we have to show for ourselves... 26 pints of pumpkin chunks.. 6 bags of pumpkin puree in
freezer (at 6cups per bag) maybe?? half a cup of powdered pumpkin?? and a gallon bag of seeds for
roasting..
all very bland/near tasteless but will, we think/hope, blend well with store canned pumpkin to stretch it and we will add spices etc to make the many pumpkin things we love to make.
and did i mention the TWELVE pumpkins we DID NOT use???
(that a very nice lady wanted for HER pumpkin plans even tho i TOLD her our results.. hopefully she will
have a better overall result..

November 2, 2016

have been feeling - kind of off today, not sad exactly just.. i dont know...

last night i was rocking & cuddling the baby while mum & daddy were at a class. i still call her the baby but she has been four yrs old a whole 2 weeks now... :) == anyway we were rocking (she wasnt feeling good) and she complained about feeling like she was sliding off of my lap.. the baby is getting too big ;(... for grandma's lap sitting... sigh...

while we were rocking i realized how much i was missing MY baby.
youngest of our two wondrous daughters.. 

who turned 25yrs old today..
oh my goodness when did THAT happen!!!

how i miss those rocking chair moments. and having her more than half the state away wasnt helping.. am most incredibly proud of our girls and this one has put herself back in school to obtain her masters so we are very proud of her hard work.. in that she is very much like her sister.. :) how did we get so lucky???

but i am missing her.. am missing those cuddle & rock together moments when she was little- am missing hearing her laugh at silly jokes. or playing her music or all the small things a mom misses..

Happy Birthday sweetheart mom & dad are cheering you on.. and missing you too...

a Little Heart attack

 <p>Presented in a funny lighthearted way  Watch and Enjoy BUT   dont take its message lightly.. to many women are at risk when they ignore these symptoms..</p> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wmPWTnDbE

RANT RAVE & Impassioned Plea... or just an idea of how to give yourself, your family and your descendants a holiday present:

Isnt the infant in the first photo ADORABLE?? such a beautiful gown - possibly an heirloom...
too bad we dont have a clue who it is..

RAVE: I have been going through an absolute TREASURE TROVE of family photos for the last several days and am Over the Moon about being able to Scan them and enter them into our Family Tree.. thanks to the unknown someone who wrote on the back of some of the photos and THANK YOU to my dear late father in law who sat down with us one day and went thru so many of these photos that have little sticky notes on the back where he was able to tell me who they were. its been nearly 25 years since we did this.. now i can do what i promised him and share with the family.
Sad rant: then there are the other photos with no clue especially the really old ones that even at the family reunion i have grave doubts we can identify.. its just been too long..

 pic of two boys is an example of this - aren't they sweet? Note also the condition of the pictures Luckily they have been stored away from light but many of them are glued to high acid cardboard backings (used to be presented that way)  - am still trying to figure out if there is a way to remove them safely



i have run into this before.. when my grandmother died we found two LARGE cardboard boxes of photos and more than 2 thirds were not identifiable by those still living - two thirds.. we have NO idea who or what we lost

pic 3 is a glass plate in DREADFUL condition.. i cannot say being stored safely in an acid free environment would have helped this very old picture but i DO know it couldn't have hurt. The bad part is that these new acid free things simply weren't available until fairly recently.



Now here is my Challenge to you - all of you.



especially with holidays coming up. drag those photo albums out and dust them off - with Acid free sleeves available in all different sizes - with acid free pens available to write data on the back of the pics with new acid free albums and storage boxes you have more of a chance of keeping those memories alive.

PLEASE give your family the very great and precious gift of their history..

WRITE on those photos. NAMES / Occasions and DATES if you know them

don't make family members  go through deteriorating photo albums sometime in the future to realize they have no clue who these people are and in doing so LOSE their own history/family- I have lived through that frustration and loss - so let me tell you its REALLY horrid

THEN STORE THEM SAFELY.. we have the technology and knowledge now!!!

you Can do as i am doing and scanning them into the computer for another way to preserve them.. Please dont think you dont know how!! and put it off
i have only a minimum skill/program for 'fixing' pics but even that is helping clear the photos to make it easier to see the faces or places to identify them. EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPs
THEN SHARE your treasures!! the more places copies are the less likely they will be forever lost..(dreadful experiences with that problem in our family)
and besides
when you are done making Copies  GIVE them to other members of family - its a Great & caring gift

pic 4 one of our Treasures.. based on other photos i "think" i have identified these two

they MAY be Martha Ellen Rutherford and
Felix Grundy Johnson..

IF i have identified them correctly - id based on other smaller pictures

Pic 5 and identified picture although i have no idea when or the actual occasion still we know WHO they are and that is a treasure unto itself

JOHNSONs & DAVISON'sof Missouri and Iowa - Children & Cousins of Elmer Andrew Johnson and Letha Maude DAVISON

top row Margaret Zora Martha
next row Harlen Sam Lester Orlan
front row Leona Birt

Midnight Musings.....

I fully expect to offend people tonite: I feel a strong Rant coming on – so read it or not, your choice. Don’t expect me to change my mind or even respond to any comments. If you don’t like it – delete it. Doesn’t matter either way. it is what it is.
My page my thoughts.

Rant of the nite: the claim of Modesty (freedom from vanity, boastfulness, regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress) or more accurately the complete hypocrisy in this movement.
I have to tell you I find it one of the most Antiquated irritating annoying inappropriate & superfluous (as in unnecessary or needless. obsolete) comments out there is when someone claims to be dressing “modestly”

Oh I ‘get’ what the poster supposedly “means’ by the comment – they think its supposed to be a compliment but it ISNT-
When this kind of comment is made, It’s the connotations that go with it that irritate me to distraction.

Case in point – a LOVELY well made dress for a lady's daughters prom. It was flattering, well constructed, dress of impeccable design – a dress for the wearer to be proud to be seen in & totally appropriate for the age of the wearer.

& then someone makes the comment of how ‘modest’ it is..
say huh? What has so called modesty to do with ANYTHING?
It was sleeveless which by some antiquated standards means its not modest. It doesn’t cover the neck – so not ‘modest’ and so on and so on.

The point I am making is the commenter was making a Judgement on the wearer’s lifestyle and belief system in that one rather snide comment.

And my particular beef with the whole modesty thing?....those who are the loudest & most virulent about it are the most NON modest people out there.

Case in point – Warren Jeffs' group in Texas – explain to me how an entire compound of women dressed alike in badly fitting dresses that even the 1980s don’t want back with a totally weird stand out hairdo on every single one of them is Not a complete demand for your spotlighted attention?

And like the quiverfull people & their “modesty movement”  which, by the way, is based on the fact that men can’t control their urges, constantly think about you know what, and so, all good decent Christian women in the US must eventually be put into burka style cover-ups. They want that all women must be covered head to toe so those poor pathetic, defenseless men can control themselves.” (oh and these are one of the groups who claim to hate Sharia law- yet that’s what they want to enact!) and of course its only the women who are targeted to dress ‘modest’

gag….

Now re-look at the definition Modesty: freedom from boastfulness:

so going out in public standing out like a camel on an iceberg, making SURE everyone who sees you KNOWS precisely what you are CLAIMING you are… how precisely are you acting modestly ???

Because THAT is what true modesty is… how you ACT. Not what you wear. A woman in a bikini can still be a modest person by how she acts and treats the world around her.
from what i can see, every single woman out there that follows this ‘HAVE to wear Modest clothing thing, is, essentially, SHOWING OFF,

Proclaiming how much better than you they believe they are.
(even when its not done deliberately (because of their own particular brand of brainwashing that they deal with)

That IS what they are doing. Showing off, bragging, making certain they are noticed……
As far as I am concerned that kind of showing off & thumbing their nose at the rest of the world is definitely the exact opposite of my idea of modesty. In ANY definition.

In fact I find it quite vulgar in many instances – certainly completely hypocritical.

Does the word Poor need rethinking:
 NOT eating Poor as opposed to eating Poorly……                                     

We all have moments of Eating Poorly.. quick snacks, fast food, skipping meals, junk food, soda.. everyone has at least one moment of this.. these are choices. we all make them & often (too often) regret them. - but in our runabout world we Get to make these choices.        ********************************************************************** But we dont have to Eat Poor,  although our choice making is a surprisingly similar set up.... choices are still made - the key is to not make bad ones..- and when there are few choices to Choose from, it can make a significant difference in the Quality of ones eating.

This is not a diatribe about being poor nor is it a condemnation of peoples choices. I am hoping to REMIND people, that even those in harsh circumstance may still  have 'some' choices still available to them. The difficulty I see the most is the lack of Knowledge.

 If I may digress a few moments before I share todays' vintage recipe - My family and I have been in the shoes of many who are considered rock bottom poor. It happened to us on more than one occasion.  I do not brag about that, its a simple statement of fact. ANYONE can end up in that sort of situation. The difference I feel is that i was Lucky. I had knowledge that many around me apparently did not have. this knowledge kept us going and we survived. both of us were raised by family that survived the Great Depression of the 30's and thru the tribulations of the 40's and WWII. From them we learned to cope with and create from what we did have.   Simple things- simple ideas.

 ALL things we 'know' today but many have moved away from.. a truly easy example of what i mean - a medium box of a product like Bisquick is very convenient and versatile but it can cost 5.8 cents an ounce (96oz for $16.52) for one box.. on the other hand to make that same thing from scratch can average..$0.15 per cup  http://penniesandpancakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/homemade-bisquick-mix-010-per-cup.html#.VINcH8k35-w

THESE are the kind of choices we must face when income has become drastically reduced. I feel I can speak to it because I have Done it.. One of the things I noticed the most when we were eating 'poor' was the lack of variety. very often one eats the same thing nearly every day - its a 'safe, known' recipe but I believe that contributes to a state of depression that many end up facing. Also, i was surprised to notice the lack of sweets seemed to add to the problem.. 

 As I have been rediscovering these vintage  depression & war years recipes, I was very interested to note How these things were addressed and SOLVED by the average homemaker. 

 Today's Vintage recipe I believe this was created with these thoughts in mind.. A frugal use of leftovers perhaps….. or the only meat in the house that day. and how to make it 'palatable, different and even rather sweet. Its an Interesting Recipe - Don't let your Modern sensibilities be put off by the name/ingredients,  we have quite enjoyed it.

PORK CAKE:
The Date/Year and Region: America's Cookbook New & Revised Edition 1944

Pork cake recipe

 

trying to mince the pork

fruits & meat chopped fine

baking

finished 'cake'

How Did You Make It:  very close to original recipe with some modifications – the hardest part for me was mincing the salt pork. I had to do it with a less than ultra sharp knife. A small processor would have made it MUCH easier (I did remove the rind as well) – all else was simple.
Time to Complete: approximately an hour – an easy recipe
 
Total Cost:
Most was in my cupboard/ refrigerator except the dried apricots – I already had the salt pork & raisins, molasses --- probably in the $4 range all told if that much—

How Successful Was It?:  Very – but it depends on ones point of view – My friend loves molasses, I like it, but much of the family does not & it Is a strong flavorant – although the amount used was small, It affected people’s response to the ‘cake’. 

 How Accurate Was It  Very accurate  I only substituted one ingredient (apricots for citron -as I had seen suggested on a website) I chose not to use some ingredients called for.

 Further thoughts: several things. 
First this was called a Cake.- from all the family’s point of view it was closer to a fruit cake than any form of cake we usually eat & its cooked in a bread loaf pan.. The ‘cake’ is very dense and moist. As None of us actually like the fruits called for in various fruit cakes we chose Not to include most of them.

The elephant in the room: the PORK. I am a fan of pork & find the meat sweet & pleasant but I did wonder what it would taste like in cake form. The very odd thing about this cake was you cannot actually Taste the pork. Yet its sweet & moist and dense. 

The only complaints about the cake was the molasses taste that some don’t like – even the apricots & raisons were not really noticable as a separate individual taste. The whole thing blended really nicely. – it was delicious plain, butter and cream cheese went well with it. 

If molasses is acceptable to your family I will actually highly recommend this.
It was fast it was easy and a very frugal use of a small amount of protein to enrich ones diet and it satisfies the need for a sweet taste as well.

I got into this whole The Historical Food Fortnightly http://historicalfoodfortnightly.blogspot.com/p/about-historical-food-fortnightly.html only recently so am doing a bit of catch up as well as trying the current challenges. Fun, the emphasis on research and documentation, & the goal  to learn more about historic cooking through experience and trial; will make this whole process INTERESTING to say the least

oh, and their definition of 'historic' is anything prior to 1960.. now i feel just a tad old.. haha!!

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  Challenge 9:  The Frugal Housewife…September 21-October 4

Throughout history, housewives and housekeepers have kept a close eye on their budgets and found creative ways to pinch pennies while providing delicious and nutritious food. Create a dish that interprets one historically-documented method of frugal cooking.

 I feel it fits the catagory really well. I can easily see it as a way to use up left over vegetables with a simple biscuit dough and a gravy to add to a simple frugal meal - perhaps a way of coaxing the 'kids' to eat their veggies by calling it a cake :).

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From:   Upside-Down Vegetable Cake

America's Cookbook New & Revised Edition

cookbook page instructions 

all vegetables in baking pan

started with onions sauted in butter

in 425 oven for 25 min

baked but not on plate yet

right side up on serving plate.

The Date/Year and Region: 

  1944 page 434 = American
How Did You Make It:  

I made the cake batter as per instructions - was more of a biscuit dough although its called a cake - in both texture and taste.  for the Vegetables i used fresh onions and canned peas, carrots corn & lima beans.  I did not make the gravy accompaniment.

Time to Complete: 
Less than one hour, start to finish.

Total Cost:

  everything i used was in my cupboard - probably in the $4 range all told if that much

How Successful Was It?:  
had several compliments on it. I would count it as successful as i personally plan to make it again.
How Accurate Was It? I would say very close though not perfect.
the instructions were somewhat incomplete such as it called for mixed vegetables & then said to arrainge hot seasoned vegetables in greased pan- it did NOT say if they were to be fully cooked or simply sauted or just warmed.. it also does not specify if fresh or canned vegetables were to be used. I did not use celery (i dont like it cooked) but i did add corn. also the instructions failed to say When to add the batter - i made an educated guess it was the last item added.

Also, the recipe called for a mushroom gravy i did not make.
as we had a gravy at the dinner for the meat I didnt bother. it was good without & I think it would go with any preferred gravy.

Further thoughts:several things. 
1st: the batter, because its consistancy & taste were more biscuit dough than cake like i will try a basic bisquick type mix the next attempt.
2nd: the vegetables. I really liked the combination that I made but i felt that the 4cups called for were too much.. it overwhelmed the dish..
3rd: the pan - i used what i had available (a springform) and it was too big for the amount of dough i had. a proper 8x8 would have been better - easier to put on platter too.
 

Round TWO


Challenge 12:  If They’d Had It…  November 2 - November 15
Have you ever looked through a cookbook from another era and been surprised at the modern dishes you find? Have you ever been surprised at just how much they differ from their modern counterparts? Recreate a dish which is still around today, even if it may look a little - or a lot - different!
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 From "The Lily-Wallace New American Cook Book
1943 Edition (first published 1941) page 230 in the Breads chapter.
  MINCEMEAT COFFEE CAKE 

 

In a deep cake pan Melt two tablespoons butter. Sprinkle two tablespoons brown sugar over butter and cover evenly with one cup mincemeat.

 
Over this pour  pour the batter made of the remaining ingredients and bake in a moderately hot oven. (425F) 25 minutes

 

 The Date/Year and Region: 

American/1943

How Did You Make It: As it was a very basic recipe I simply followed the instructions  verbatim

 
Time to Complete: 
Less than two hours, start to finish.

Total Cost:

About $2 for the mincemeat - I had everything else on hand (correction: cost of jar was $5.57 but i only used half of jar- for a cost of $2.85)

How Successful Was It?: Very – easily made and smelled delicious coming out of the oven- and the taste is very pleasant.. (am not a huge mincemeat fan & found it tasty. the cake itself is somewhat dense - a bit like a pound cake rather than a standard airy cake but the butter flavor is very nice. mom has already said she would not mind if I make it again :)

 
How Accurate Is It?: Very Accurate. All the ingredients are pretty much the same as in 1943 – I researched the mincemeat product I used and found the following:  

History of the None Such Mincemeat:

The Merrell-Soule Company, manufacturer and distributor of canned goods, successfully introduced condensed mincemeat under the None Such® brand name for Borden. Merrell-Soule Company was purchased by Borden in the late 1920’s.

And in asking my 78yr old mom of her memories of family making mincemeat dishes when she was a child, she said that her mother always bought her mincemeat from the local market rather than make it from scratch – pretty much as I did tonite.