A New Pattern

Yesterday, we ran a few errands in C-burg. Our pastor’s wife had told me Joann’s had simplicity patterns on sale for .99 cents. I found this great vintage apron pattern. I love old things. I am in process of redoing the flowered apron. I just did not like the contrasting material. No one else did either. So yesterday, I took it off. I will be doing something different on the bottom, maybe just a lace ruffle.

My house smells delicious. Yesterday while we were out, I got a rotisserie chicken. For supper, we had chicken, noodles, green beans and fresh baked bread. Then I took the bones and cooked them all night in my crock pot to make a stock. Everytime I awoke last night I could smell the stock cooking. Today I have simmering on the wood stove, chicken and noodle soup. I got the original recipe from another blog and it is just delicious. Of course, I have altered the recipe to suit our taste.

The recipe is: deboned chicken, stock, carrots, celery, onions. The amounts of these will depend upon how much chicken you use. 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp. parsley, 1 tsp. chicken base (if you have it, if not, its just fine without it). I then add about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning, basil, oregano- or whatever I have on hand. Let this all simmer for about 30 minutes, add noodles. Another guessing amount but I think at least 2 cups. After noodles are done, mix together 3 tbsp flour and water. Add this to the soup mixture and let it simmer. This will cause the soup to thicken. In this pot, I added some canned corn also. In the picture, I have not added the flour yet. You can skip this step, if you want. I have made it both ways.

Time for school to begin. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 18, 2011 3

Beautiful Sky

Today has been a very pretty day here in Floyd. Beautiful sunshine and as you can see the sky is just amazing. Such a bright, vibrant blue. It is warmer than it has been. 25 degrees with very little wind. All in all, this makes for a fairly nice day.
I wanted to put a picture of my latest apron on, but for some reason I am having difficulties with my pictures. I think I will need some help, Dave.
Tonights menu will be pinto beans(cooked on the wood stove) Kielbasa with cabbage, cornbread and the buttermilk chocolate cake for dessert. Pintos cooked on the wood stove are just sooooo good. I guess they prefer slow cooking.
Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 14, 2011 3

A Finished Project

I finally have Grace’s quilt finished. I started it last year after I finished Julie’s. Gardening came upon us and I had to put the quilt away until winter. I now have made all 3 girls a wall hanging/quilt that I sewed by hand. I am not very skilled at sewing things by hand so these will probably be the only ones I do.

Temperatures are still cold here. Actual temperature this morning was 10 degrees with a -10 wind chill. When the cold wind blows here it is very difficult to keep the house warm. The wind seems to find its way inside in places we never thought possible. Anyway, our wood stove is working overtime. I am very grateful to have this stove. It certainly puts out a lot of heat.

I am working on a new apron and hopefully will be able to show you all a picture of it soon. School as usual today. The ladies are coming tomorrow for bible study and it is my turn to make dessert. I am thinking of making a buttermilk chocolate cake. I got the recipe from a blogger friend and it has become a favorite of ours. I like buttercream frosting with ours. It reminds me of a cake that was served at school when I was a kid. They called it wacky cake. I do not like chocolate very much but this cake is really good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 13, 2011 4

Fall Colors

Here is another picture from our outing yesterday. Such beautiful colors. Today has been busy working on the new room. We have the vinyl flooring down. Now I should pause to say “where I come from” we call this linoleum. Here they call it vinyl flooring. Anyway, it is down on the floor. All the trim is cut, painted and on except for the window trim. It is really starting to look like a room. I will try to post a picture of it soon so you all can see our progress.

We did not have ladies bible study today. Two of the ladies were unable to come so we just decided to call it off. Probably for the best, my house is a little cluttered right now. Hopefully, soon it will all be finished and we can get everything back in order. Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. Nice temperatures, cool but not too much, lots of sunshine. We did have a fire all day which has felt really nice. I cooked my first kettle of pinto beans on the wood stove today so I guess fall is officially here. There is no better pinto beans than those cooked on a wood stove-in my opinion.

Well, still more to get done. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 22, 2010 2

Drifts

I apologize for not posting anything is several days. Things have been a little busy here. Julie is sick with a sore throat and head cold. We took her to the doctor yesterday. Thankfully it is not strep throat. But she feels yucky just the same. Rest and lots of liquids for her. Also we have been doctoring Jasper’s (young dog) paw. He seems to have stepped on somthing and run it through his paw in 3 different places. The first day it happened he just limped, the second day it was swollen 3 times normal size, the third day it bled alot, then finally it has started ( I hope) to improve. The swelling is down, he still can’t put any weight on it, but it looks much better. Of course, he has been allowed to sleep on the enclosed porch, which I am thinking he likes WAY too much. Cold temperatures here-below zero wind chills. Wind gusts of about 60 mph. We had to let the fire go out in the wood stove. It was just too much smoke coming in the house, especially with Julie sick. This is definitely on Hubby’s to-do list to fix this problem this summer.

The pictures are of drifts in our side yard. They are a little darker than I had hoped but you can get the idea anyway. I estimate them to be over 4 ft. Yesterday when we took Julie to the doctor, the main road was pretty bad. 3-4 ft. drifts blocking one side of the road. Lots of places had only 1 lane open. When we came back, the road crews had cleared them. Our road crews have definitely spent a lot of time working this winter. Speaking of work, I guess I better get busy. Take care and God bless.

February 27, 2010 2

More Snow Pictures

A picture of the field. I was hoping it would show how the sun was glistening off the snow. It was absolutely beautiful.

Our road after the tractor had made a path.

Going up the hill beside the hay barn. Yes, that brown spot proves there is still dirt under all this snow.

Guess what? We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow. Not much though-about 3″. After all this, we probably won’t even notice 3 more inches. Anyway, we have company coming over today. My brother-in-law and his wife are coming. I made homemade vegetable beef soup(cooked on the wood stove, of course)and I’m making rolls as I type this. I use my bread machine to mix and knead the dough. I love this machine. It is a Zojirushi.

I bought it used several years ago and consider it a very valuable helper. I put 1 cup lukewarm water into the machine, 1/4 cup butter-cut into chunks, 1egg beaten, 3 1/4 cups bread flour, 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp powdered milk, 1tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp yeast. Set the machine to dough cycle and walk away. It takes the machine l hr 50 min. to run through this cycle. Then I take the dough out, punch it down and form the rolls. I get about 15 rolls from 1 batch. Then I spray them with olive oil and let them rise for about 1 hr. Bake 12 min. at 425 degrees. When I take them out of the oven, I brush them with melted butter(being generous with the butter). Half of these never make it to the table. They get eaten as soon as the butter is spread on them. One thing I do a little different from this recipe is I put 1 1/4 cup fresh ground wheat flour and 2 cups bread flour instead of using all bread flour. My family doesn’t care a lot for whole wheat so I mix it. I guess I better go check on my rolls and get ready for company. God Bless.

February 8, 2010 3

More Snow

More snow! We already have about 3 more inches and as you can see it is still coming down. It is supposed to snow all day today and tomorrow. Wow! I think it is going to be a snuggle in weekend. I hope to work on Grace’s quilt this weekend, maybe make a few aprons, have fun with my girls, make a pot of coffee to share with my hubby. Our front porch is enclosed with glass. We love to sit out there, drink coffee and watch it snow. All the beauty without the cold. I have a beef roast on the wood stove cooking. I haven’t decided what to put with this yet, probably potatoes and carrots. Yesterday’s menu was meatloaft, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac & cheese, and biscuits. School today as usual, maybe make some snow cream later. Enjoy your day and God Bless.

February 5, 2010 1

A New Day

What a difference a day can make. Yesterday the snow was falling. Today is equally as beautiful but in a different way. The sun is shining and as you can see the sky is a georgeous blue. It occurred to me that sometimes life is like that too. Each day brings a different type of beauty. Sometimes we have to look deeper to find the beauty and sometimes it is easier to find. I believe God has a treasure for us each day, it is our responsiblity to search and find it. Today will be another snuggle in day. Church at home. Maybe play some games with our girls. Fun stuff. Family stuff. The things memories are made of. I love days like these. I wanted to tell everyone that I now have a comment link on each post. If you want to leave a comment just click on the link. It is always exciting when someone leaves a comment. Thanks Dave for fixing this for me. I want to take a minute to let you all know what a great son-in-law I have. The Lord did a great job picking him out. He is always ready to help us (no matter how dirty the job). I just wanted you to know, Dave, we’re glad you are part of our family. Okay enough of that, I don’t want his head to get too big. Todays menus is venison roast cooking on the wood stove and also some beans. I think maybe biscuits and fried potatoes would be good with this. I try to cook on our wood stove as often as possible. I think the food tastes better and of course it saves on the electric bill. I’m always for saving money. Well, I think I’ll get busy enjoying my day. God Bless.

January 31, 2010 2

Before and After

Never give up on cast iron. We made a trip to our homeplace over the weekend. My mother-in-law knows how much I love cast iron. She had purchased these kettles in a set many years ago. Maybe as many as 50 years ago. I think she told me it was a 20 piece set and it cost about $20.00. ( thats says it was a long time ago) She had stored them in a building many years ago. We went on safari to search for them. When we found them I thought “Maybe they are too far gone”. But I brought them home and searched the internet for ways to clean them up. First I used an equal part of salt and oil. Rubbed that in(really good) with a cloth. Then for the really stubborn spots of rust, I used a brillo pad. Washed them in soapy water and reseasoned them. ( To season cast iron, coat the kettle with a light coat of oil. Turn upside down on a cookie sheet and bake at 250-300 degree oven for about l hour) I was so pleased with the result. I couldn’t wait to post about it. The largest kettle she called a pinto bean pot. I can just taste how good beans will be cooked on our wood stove this winter. Thanks so much, Judy. So don’t throw that old cast iron out. Re-do it. It’s worth the effort. God Bless.

November 24, 2009 1