Saturday, July 23, 2011

Ground Cherry Pie

Shell and wash the ground cherries. (I had a walmart bag full)

Create pie crust using 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt. Cut in 1/3 cup shortening.
Sprinkle about 3 tbsp ice water and 1 tbsp vinegar over mix. 
Toss with fork to form dough ball.

Roll out just big enough to fit pie pan.

Crimp edges or press with fork.

Put 2 1/2 cups ground cherries in crust. Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tbsp flour.
Sprinkle over cherries.

Sprinkle with 2 tbsp water. 
Mix 3 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp sugar, and 2 tbsp butter til crumbly. 
Spread over all. 

Cover edges of pie.
Bake in preheated oven @ 425* for 15 min. 
Reduce heat to 375* and bake another 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy your pie! 
(=

We plan to eat ours tomorrow.










Quote of the Day



‎"People are NEVER meant to be tasks.
 Don't get so busy serving your Family/Team/Church that you don't spend time with them." 
--Laurie Woodward













Defrosting the Freezer

My freezer was in desperate need of defrosting so one day I took the plunge and cleaned it.


Chad and 'Shiny' helped me. We took all the stuff out and put it in coolers. Meanwhile I boiled some large kettles of water and unplugged the freezer. We set a kettle in the freezer on the middle shelf and shut the door. We laid towels around it on the floor and gathered up rags and buckets. After the steam did its work we traded kettles and shut the door again. In a short amount of time the freezer was clean!! (=

Wow! What a great feeling.
How often DOES one defrost a freezer???



Friday, July 22, 2011

Hornet sting and Apple Cider Vinegar

I am chuckling to myself... (= And here is why...
 Tonight Steve and Chad were building a little storage barn for me; and my 'Shiny' and I were mowing the lawn. Suddenly I noticed Steve yelling and waving at me and Chad dancing about, SCREAMING at the top of his lungs! I cut the motor and quickly ran to them. Steve meanwhile called out that Chad had stepped on a black and yellow hornet! I didn't stop but rushed Chad to the house, into the kitchen and sat him on the nearest chair. I  quickly grabbed the apple cider vinegar and a bowl . Putting his foot into the bowl I poured the vinegar over it till there was about 2 inches in the bowl. (Much less will work very well, too. And gauze pads are wonderful for this.I'm just out right now.)
 He almost instantly stopped crying and said it was very cooling. Since he was quickly getting bored I told him he could move to the porch. So he picked up the bowl, moved outside AND PUT THE WRONG FOOT BACK IN THE BOWL!!! :D Then he was confused and couldn't decide where he had been stung! Anyway the pain was completely gone and the swelling never happened.
 This is quite funny since Steve saw the hornet and killed it! (Can you imagine not knowing where you had been stung minutes after it happened?)
 I always use apple cider vinegar on stings and find that there is very little pain and often no swelling!
(I'm sure this has not been approved by the FDA)


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Bed in Summer

Tonight I told my little girl it was time to go to bed. She looked shocked, pointed at the window and said, 'It still daytime'!
(=
That reminded me of when I was little and had to go to bed when it was still light outside. I would, of course, complain and then my mom would recite this poem. 

In winter I get up at night 
And dress by yellow candle-light. 
In summer quite the other way, 
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see 
The birds still hopping on the tree, 
Or hear the grown-up people's feet 
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you, 
When all the sky is clear and blue, 
And I should like so much to play, 
To have to go to bed by day?

Robert Louis Stevenson


I always liked to hear it! She would say it cheerfully with lots of animation.  
So now I get to say it to my little girl! (=

Decided to set me blog up so I can text to it! (:

The Kids Bedroom

My sister lived with us for awhile and while she lived here she had the kids room. They slept in the living room or in our bed! :/ After she got married and moved out,Steve decided to redecorate the room to give the kids incentive to use it ! (= (instead of ours) 

We started out with this (sorry, the lighting is poor)



The room has two windows...

a closet...

and canning shelves! (=

 Steve mixed the colors and painted while I helped tape and whatever else was needed. He mixed blue and pink.




Blue on the top (for the boy) and pink on the bottom (for the girl)
The border was his genius! (=

The children wanted to help SO bad so we got the idea to let them put their hand prints on the little wall.


 What a lot of fun it was! (=

This was very simple, fairly cheap and fun! We got one gallon semigloss white paint plus red and blue acrylic craft paints (to mix the colors) and painted the whole room for less the $20.
Those little things of craft paints are awesome cause now we have white paint left for our room too! (=









Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Spice Cupboard


Every time I opened that spice cupboard I would sputter to myself, "Man,I HATE this lazy susan! Now WHERE is the 'cinnamon'?" 
Then one day I got an idea from a wonderful lady who was organizing at her house. She was doing spice shelves and I was SO excited! Off I went to try it. 
And this is the result! :)

These spices are all on one layer and are all in alphabetical order. Wow! I love to cook and this just speeds up the whole process! I am so blessed! 
I used pint jars, jelly jars, a few olive jars, and some baby food jars.
Just make a list of your spices, gather up the amount of jars you need and print off labels for each kind. Then fill the jars, label, and put them back on the shelves in alphabetical order! Throw out the 'odd' containers and you have a master piece. (=

You don't wanna use glass jars tho if the above happens at your house! LOL
Just arrange them in alphabetical order!
Have a blessed day!

Grandma's Apron

Sewing is a "love" for me! I like to sew and do it a lot. Mostly because I like to but sometimes because I need to. The latest passion is sewing aprons from some 'kits' I found on sale!
 We don't see as many aprons nowadays but then again how many women really need them?
Cooking wholesome foods is making a comeback tho so maybe the apron is too! After all, doing ones own cooking and canning is healthy (and perhaps a little messy)! :)


Grandma's Apron
I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears…
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men-folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Author unknown 


Have a blessed day! :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Oven Fried French Toast


1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter,melted
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
3/4 inch french breach slices*
5 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
cinnamon sugar**

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.
 Arrange bread over sugar mixture. (*about 6 slices)
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (**1tsp cinnamon,2 tsp sugar)
Mix eggs and milk well. Pour over bread.
Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least two hrs)
Bake at 350* for 30 to 35 min. 
Cool slightly and invert onto plates.
Serve warm!

Quote for the day


Life is like a cup of coffee,
sometimes you have to go through the grind, 
but God fills it up with a special blend!

The Mothers Calling

As a mother I face a beautiful calling! The nurturing of tiny people! All the schooling, kissing, singing, and reading, along with the mountains of dirty clothes, dishes to wash and never ending toys to pick up are mine! The best way I have figured out how to 'deal' with all this is to just make up my mind that it IS a 'calling' and a beautiful one! Then the weight of the workload shifts and becomes wonderful in itself! I don't really like to work alone so my children join me! What fun we have! (= If the standards aren't to high and everyone is helping, work can almost seem like play. We slip in some classical or praise and worship music and away we go. A cousin of mine wrote a song and the chorus goes like this;

 For you are called to the Kingdom for such a time as this, 
God has designed that you be where you are. 
Just touch the scepter held out to let you know, 
You have the 'call' and with it strength to go!

So often, I feel like I really don't have the strength and then this song comes to mind. I believe that when God calls us to a certain field in life, He gives us the strength to go there. And stay there... Til the calling comes to move on to a new field! 
So lets draw from His Word and He will give us the grace we need! (= 
Have a blessed day!

She Looketh Well . . . Blog

Monday, July 18, 2011

As a plant

I planted flower seeds this spring and we all watched eagerly for them to come up! They did, quite well, and were soon ready to plant. My son and I planted two in a jar, put a few snails in there,watered them and capped it all off with a 'breathing' lid. The rest we planted in the flower bed right behind the house. 6 weeks later here are their pictures!


There is a huge difference between the two!

It reminds me so much of raising children. Just like these plants they must be watered carefully (with prayer), and fed thoroughly (with Gods Word).
But the plants in the jar stayed little! (Tiny, in fact) And weak! Their roots 'give' readily when we try to remove old leaves, etc. They are alive, yes, but their leaves tend to be yellow or pale green. The leaves die quickly and food and water must be applied with great care or else the whole plant wants to die! These plants are so weak we could never move them to the flowerbed outdoors! They'd die off the very first day!
 Now I have seen parents treat their children in much the same way as we treated these flowers. They put them in 'glass boxes' and protect them from everything! Not giving them any chance to gain a deep root system in Gods Word or a strong 'stem' of conviction! When our children face a temptation do we help them overcome it or do we get all horrified and remove all possible sign or signs of these temptations? My husband loves his guns, but we have no gun closet so when my babies were babies I did not remove the gun/guns but instead trained my children to never touch them. So I'm not saying to let your children do anything they want!  I believe we as parents can go off the deep end there too!
But look at those plants we planted in the flowerbed! Strong, healthy, HUGE plants that are just blooming their hearts out with long white sweet smelling trumpet flowers. They smell wonderful! I protect these plants too. Once when they were just starting to bud they became infested with aphids. LOADS of aphids! So many aphids the plants appeared brown. So I got out my soap and oil and mixed up a solution and sprayed them all over. Then after about 10 minutes I washed them clean with fresh water. (Could this be likened to a loving rebuke coupled with punishment?) Several times we removed Tomato Hornworms from them.(A little here and a little there?) And once I treated them for slugs,etc. And I fed and watered them. But they faced to much sunshine (and recovered from the sunburn), strong winds and hail. Notice that I did plant them right along the house which provided about exactly the right amount of shielding.
One of the reasons these plants are all still alive and doing as well as they are is because I have studied up on how to garden. All my life I have loved plants so I have read all about it! The terarium was a study project to show my son the wonders of the plant world. (Not the first I've ever done tho.) It has been a learning experience for me as well as for him.
Have a Blessed day! (=

rag rug



                                                                                                                                                                 My Life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Modesty


Don't dress to kill,
Don't dress to thrill,
Dress to be in God's Will.
~Chris Brady

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Christmas in July???

  •                 

Christmas in July???
One of the most important things for me on my 'to do' list in July is to sit down and make up a Christmas list of  each person receiving cards or gifts from us. Then during the months of July,August,Sept, and Oct the gifts are selected, purchased and IMMEDIATELY wrapped! These gifts are often gotten at sales, on ebay, amazon, etc and are not always new! The cards are gathered up and paper clipped to the gift for future use. I like to have all my gift shopping (and wrapping) finished by the end of Oct/beginning of Nov! It makes for a very relaxed Christmas Season during which the real reason for the season can be focused on! Oh,we don't always hit the goal completely but it sure helps to have a goal there anyway! (=
God bless your month!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Quilt of Life

Our life here on earth is much the same
As a beautiful quilt on display
The pattern is there, we are given the cloth
To form the blocks each day.
As children, we choose the reds and the golds,
The pinks, the blues and the greens.
We have never yet seen the drabness that comes
With the shattering gray of our dreams.
We form the blocks haphazardly
With no thought of hues or design.
It is only when it is half finished
Do we notice the passing of time.
It is then we can see the red and the gold
More beautiful with patches of gray.
Just like the darkest nights of our lives
Are made bright by the breaking of day.
As the quilt stretches out in my twilight years
And I add a few stitches each day.
I can see the touch of the Master’s Hand
As I look at those patches of gray.
Life wasn’t meant to be an array
Of bright colored pinks and blue.
He knew there would be patches of gray
When He gave the pattern to you. 
Fern Estes

Monday, July 11, 2011

Of Roofs and Noses

 Saturday afternoon and evening we attended a Leadership Conference. During the seminar the speaker told of how when they first married they were quite poor. Recently they were much better set as far as money went and decided to sell the house they lived in and buy something bigger and nicer.
  But... THE DAY they were to have the place appraised, it rained.... And the roof LEAKED. It leaked so bad the wife had to go over to the neighbors and borrow more pots and pans. They were so sad and wondered "Why,God?? Why now? Just when we were ready to sell it?"
 They called a Roofer to come out and have a look. He came and when he was done he sat down with them and told them he does not understand this at all! He said 'your roof should have been leaking for 11 yrs! It has no tar paper, NO leak guard AT ALL!' Then they understood that God had been looking over them all those yrs when they were to poor to afford a roof change.
 As I sat through that story my mind went on a journey in my own life. We had moved about 3 yrs ago and since then had been (in America) poor. I know that's not the same as really truly poor. But anyway we often didn't even have money for food and twice had a repo issued on our house. Steve so often either didn't have work or had low paying jobs.
 Anyway this summer we were finally using the wisdom we learned at these seminars and a little better paying job and were 'getting to our knees'. And then suddenly our little girl got terribly sick! She had a tick bite on the calf of her leg behind the knee that the Dr felt was tick fever. And in that bite she developed staff infection. The Staff was scary as it would not respond to the medicines. It just kept spreading and spreading. I took her to the Dr and he gave her different doses of medications and said if that doesn't help they will have to hospitalize her. I went home just heartbroken. (ALL these Dr bills and now THIS???) But we gave her the medicines... And prayed! And God healed her. The morning we were to go back I got up and looked at her leg and the stuff had spread. Way out of the lines the Dr had drawn on her to indicate where it must not go! Then about 2 hrs before we were to leave it started going down! Just like Someone had stuck a pin in it! The swelling went down (WAY down) and the rash faded! By the time we got to the Drs Office it looked almost normal! Praise the Lord!! 
 But I was still struggling with the "why NOW,Lord???" Just when we were maybe seeing a light at the end of the tunnel? 
Then the Dr asked if any of us has had a problem with crusty sores on the nose that itch and don't want to heal? I said "YES,I have had that for 3 yrs now and its SO frustrating! What is it???" And he said that I am the carrier of the staff infection! He gave antibiotic ointment and instructions on treatment! 
 Then I realized... for 3 long very poor yrs, God had His Hand over my loved ones protecting them from this awful disease!
 What a Mighty God we serve!!
 Have a wonderful and blessed day!


Friday, July 8, 2011

Freezer Cookies

I always liked the thought of freezing my cookies ahead so that we would have them on hand for lunches, etc. But I always thought they tasted so 'old' after they were frozen! But then I discovered what everyone else probably already knows! (= If one freezes them while they are fresh  (as in just barely cooled) they are WONDERFUL! Get them out of the freezer, thaw, and they taste just like you just baked them. So I am very excited about this! (= I did also discover that waxed paper or something should be used between layers in case they are still a little warm cause they will fuse together and make a huge mess. I package them 3 cookies to a sandwich baggie and that is very handy! They can be laid out to freeze and then boxed up and put into lunches or used for snacks a little at a time. For large families tho this might be impractical... 

  Monster Cookies
2lbs brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1 lb butter
12 eggs
1/4 cup vanilla
1 tbsp molasses
8 tsp soda
3 lbs peanut butter
18cups oatmeal
1 lb chocolate chips
1 lb M&M's
Mix all together well with commercial mixer or hands! (=
Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
Bake 350* for about 10-12 min. Do not overbake!
Yields 124 lg cookies