Cooking up Pink

The last few months have been totally crazy.  First of all, let me show off.

 My newest grand baby arrived.  Pink this time.  She was just hours old in this photo.

I am so happy, so thankful to God that everything turned out so well.  She was full term, healthy, and her mom is doing great as well.

Miss C arrived July 14, 2013 weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches long.  She has lovely long fingers and long toes and a long little foot as well.  Not sure if the hair will be blonde or brown yet, but she has quite a bit.  After three grandsons, am so happy to have a grand daughter to dress up.

Life is still really busy around here with all the cleaning, remodeling and catching up I have to do from being sick and some dental work that went a little wrong.  We are soon to be heading out on our big vacation adventure as well.

We are hosting a small dinner party in August.  Since we are soon to start the kitchen remodel we wanted to have our turn as host since it will be a few months before it will all be worked over. It will be a kind of good bye to the old kitchen and then on with the new so when we host again the couples will get to see the before and after experience.  OH I AM SO EXCITED to get this project going.  I know it will take a long time as we are doing the work all our selves, but the savings will be well worth it since I am putting that savings toward some new appliances.  Hubby doesn't think I am capable of doing any physical work, but I will be PROVING him wrong because I can, if nothing else, be cleaning up behind him while he is at work.  My dad was the world's best handy man and taught me to swing a hammer and such so I know that I can be of help.  Besides, the new design is all in my head anyway.

Some of the cabinets will be repurposed for the new laundry room and storage/pantry room.  But otherwise, we will be gutting the entire kitchen and putting all new cabinets and countertops in, new back splashes and a new window as well.  Not much has to change with the flooring, but little does change we still have boxes of tile left over from when we did the kitchen floor so matching and repairing will be simple.

I made a Churro Cheesecake, which was very good but not much eaten.  I really need to work on learning to half a recipe or find somewhere to take the other half. LOL

I will be working on getting back on track with my budgeting and menu planning when we get back home.  My oldest grandson Mr. T has been visiting us for the last few weeks.  He lives in Texas with is his little brother Mr. W and his mom (my oldest daughter) and dad.  Since I normally get to see him once a year, for about 3 or 4 days, this month with him has been a real treat.  However, not being around him often, it is hard to know what he likes for meals so menu planning went totally by the wayside.  But, since I am really determined to start cut our spending...every where...and since I can make the biggest difference or cut the easiest with the grocery and household spending that is where I will start.  That and cutting out the eating out.  I am terrible about wanting to eat out because it is my favorite thing to do.  But I will just have to think about the big picture, which is the money saved, and I will be able to do it.  It is just insane that any more for our family to all go out to eat it cost close to $200.00 including a tip of course.  But, then again when we usually go out to eat, we usually go out with our oldest son and his family and usually pay for them as well.  Still, it is obscene to think that I am enjoying one meal for what I can feed us on for at the very least two to three weeks.  Healthier food as well.  I will also be taking advantage of the week before oldest daughter starts back to school that she can watch the little guy for me so I can do some bulk cooking sessions.  This has one obstacle to achieving, that is the freezer is stuffed with meat.  I am hoping that the spaced freed up by cooking the meat will generate enough space for the meals I am cooking ahead.  I have also purchases some aids in organizing the menu plans to make them a little more easily accessed.  I just need to make myself sit down, plan it and implement it.  That is my number one goal, actually doing it for a change.

Also forcing myself back in to weight management mode as well.  I plan to schedule some gym time, just like I would schedule a manicure.  I need to renew my efforts to control my portions, cut my sweets and boredom snacking, and get moving.  I am not taking all my recipes and such to menu plan, but will be taking some notebooks to work on creating cleaning schedules to actually make myself clean, and an activity schedule for my bible study, writing, computer time (blogging and facebooking) and sewing.  I find that I tend to get focused in on one thing or one project and neglect all else until I finish it.  In fact, I also get so easily distracted by one thing or another, that I wonder if I don't have adult ADD.  Have to add that I also have to get myself better organized as to my Pampered Chef business and getting my Etsy site up and running and actually some things to offer in it.  WOW, I am overloaded, but I need to be more productive and less Facebook gaming.

Got to go for now, so will be back in August and hopefully in full swing with all my sewing and crafting. Wish me luck and check back in August.  Thanks for stopping in and come back soon.

Collections

Every one has a collection of some type.  It makes us feel good to gather the things we like.  I find this a fascinating insight as I watch my youngest grand son, Mr. M, not quite 2 year old yet.  He will sit on our couch and pull all of his little toys on to the couch around him.  Like he is holding court over all of his little cars, stuffed animals, action figures and such.  It is so cute.

At any rate, from an early age we have this desire to collect the things that touch us in a special way.  Be that silly giddy feeling we have by just seeing an item, or maybe a particular item causes a smile to cross our face for no apparent reason.  My mom collected decorative plates from all the places she travelled.  She also collected photos, lots and lots of photos, of all kinds of things, for years and years.  I had one aunt that enjoyed the beach and collected all kinds of things that she would find on her walks.  One aunt collected salt and pepper shakers.  I would love to collect them, have absolutely no room or way of displaying them.

I have random collections.  Depending on the mood I am in during that phase of my life.  At one time I collected cows, angels, thimbles, miniatures and such.  The last two I still pick up from time to time when ever we go on a vacation. Thimbles, like shot glasses, are small to carry and display and also cheap as far as souvenirs go.  One thing that I have always collected as been cookbooks.  All kinds of cookbooks.  Loose recipes, printed recipes, internet recipes, hand written recipes.  My favorite kinds of cookbooks are actually the fundraiser kind.  Like for a church or school or club.  Members submit their favorite recipes, then they are published with their name in the book.  I have a weakness for church congregational cookbooks.  I have lost count of how many cookbooks I actually have.  I am so excited that when we remodel the kitchen I will have some shelves to display all my books.  At the moment, they are tucked away in a closet, very hard to get to when I want one. 

I have over the years been really fascinated in old cookbooks.  The older the better.  My mother's side of the family comes from Germany and it is rumored that her father's family were Pennsylvania Amish.  This hasn't been proven by genealogy but based on the amount of family recipes with Amish influence, it would seem to be true.  My dad's side of the family all cooked what you would call "home-style" or "country".  Both sides of the family were farmers.  Different crops as they were in different parts of the state, but they still cooked with recipes that were carried down to them, and they grew up and started their families during the depression era so going to their home was like eating a meal from the old days. At the moment cookbooks, recipes from the 30's and 40's are of great interest to me.  More on that later.

So...on with my story.  Recently I had purchased a copy of "My Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" that had been published in 1936, the seller described it as having loose hand written pages with recipes on it included in the book as well as some handwritten notes on some of the book's recipes.  Those are the best kind.  My mom would write in her cookbooks "Good" or "Never Again" or "Excellent" depending on how the recipe turned out.  Back to the story though.  I received my package, all excited, only to open it and find the wrong book inside.  The seller had accidentally mixed up the two shipments, sending my book to another buyer and his book to me.  Doing the right thing, I repackaged the book and sent it to the correct buyer.  Sadly, the other buyer has not been so kind.  He has refused to send me my book, has ignored repeated email request to do so.  Thankfully the seller was a very honest person and not only refunded my initial payment, but refunded me the cost of shipping for my sending the other buyer his book.  I was understandably disappointed as it is really difficult to find the old cookbooks still in decent shape, when you do, they are sometimes pricey.  I am not willing to put a lot of money in to my addiction.  I was however fortunate to find a copy of the same book that had been listed, but published in 1938.  I really didn't care, it was still in the time period I was looking for.  I purchased it quickly, and it was even cheaper than the first book I had ordered.

It arrived today.  I was pleasantly surprised that the book was in such excellent condition for its age.  Some water damage has caused the last few pages to stick together, but they are all blank pages included in the book for writing notes or recipes in.  I don't really need them.  The biggest surprise however was when I opened up the cover to find that the book was published in 1930, not 1938. So happy.

The thing that I am drawn to the most about recipes from this time period is the simplicity of them.  No fancy techniques, no expensive ingredients, no bias toward red meat or for organic.  Things weren't processed back then the way they are these days.  Especially looking at where my family roots come from, farmers, they were working families that lived in rural areas.  They needed meals that fed their body.  They ate to live.  Now days it seems that people live to eat.

Here is a part of one of the pages in the cookbook, it explains how to plan a meal that is nutritious.  Yes, the food pyramid or what ever they call it these days, has changed over the years but to look at it makes total sense.  I love that they suggested a quart of milk a day per person.  Of course, now a days about the same amount is suggested, if you add up the consumption of all things dairy...milks, cheese, yogurt.  Also included are some suggested menus. 

Once again, the simplicity strikes me as appealing.  Their life style is reflective as well.  Dinner or supper is the main meal.  Fresh fruits, vegetables were the norm for daytime.  The dishes prepared for a meal was also reflective of the season.  They were experts at making use of the growing seasons.  Remember, they didn't have chemically preserved foods.  They canned and preserved the vegetables while they were fresh and in season to have during the months that wouldn't be available.  Total pioneers of "sustainable" food sources long before it was the fad.

I wish often that I could back to that time and live there.  As long as I could take my electric washer/dryer, mixer, computer and sewing machine to name a few.  Life and all it's expectations were more simple, purer, back then.  Families took care of families, people had morals, had ethics, believed in church and country.

Enough of my ramblings.  I have to get to the store to pick up a 10 inch iron skillet to make a recipe I found from the 50's for tonight.  I had something else planned for tonight, but have a lot of ground beef left over from the party last night since only a third of the invited showed up.  So...off I go. Thanks for stopping by and come back often.