The Months of Autumn

Welcome!!

Fall is in the air weather you consider November 1st and 81 degrees to be unseasonably warm and not "fallish", it IS November!

I have put a great deal of the yard to bed, with a few odds and ends still out, but to be quite honest, it is still so warm, there hasn't really been an urgency to get it done; so I haven't.

I have been decorating inside however, and I have made some lovely vignettes as an ode to the turning of colors and the abundance of harvest. Here are just a few.

The sideboard in the dining area

  

The dining room table 

My pilgrims on the piano

Roger's mothers tea set she brought with her upon returning from China in 1940

 In the corner of my beautiful kitchen is a shelf unit that houses many necessities like the telephone, the radio, a box of tissues, and story books for the Grandson, and a shelf for my purse. 

Fortunately it also has a couple of shelves that are strictly for me to display small collections, and current holiday decorations. 

My newest and the one I'm pretty excited about this year is the bargain I found at a yard sale of two of the glass urns. I had the front one already, and I knew exactly what I was going to do with them. 

Last year I filled the small one with coffee beans and a vanilla candle. This year I filled it with French vanilla coffee beans, and a vanilla candle. the tall one with cinnamon sticks and a vanilla candle, and the middle one with mixed un-shelled nuts and a vanilla candle. My house smells fantastic!  

I dislike Halloween, but I do have to admit that the month of October ushers in Fall beautifully and I love it.  

Do You Know What You're Doing?

I've always been a Peanuts fan. I was a fan of Charlie Brown and the gang back when it all started. I have the videos of every Peanuts Special. I have paper back books of Peanuts Cartoons. I'm thinking that Charles Schultz was brilliant. So imagine my glee at finding a Peanuts daily devotional calendar at Hobby Lobby. I snatched it up and it now sits on my kitchen windowsill where I flip the page first thing every morning. This was my greeting one day last week. I thought it the perfect cartoon to usher in fall. 

Do I need to say more 

Quilting

Unbeknownst to many people I am a quilter. Not by profession, strictly a hobby. 

I am not trained, nor do I belong to a Quilters guild, or club, this is strictly therapeutic. I feel no need to have my work exhibited, or critiqued, or criticized, or analyzed. This is an outlet and one that is totally mine and a reflection of me. My children will be the only ones who ever benefit, if that's what you call it, from this happy endeavor.  

I stumbled upon this by accident years ago. 

I like to sew, but lost interest in making my own clothes as I got older, and my body changed, and I was no longer a perfect size 10. Patterns required more alteration, and I found I could go buy what I wanted for so much less time and hassle, and yes, even cheaper; go figure.  

One of the aspects of Home Ec. class that I enjoyed in school was the 6 wk segment on decorating, and learning to sew accents for your home. This is something I appreciated when we moved into our first apt. I made curtains, pillows, etc. long before it was so vogue to do so. 

I began my journey into quilting making baby quilts for friends, dear friends, who's little's were going to be as important to me as my own family. I loved it when I found out that those little's loved the quilts I made, carrying them everywhere, and using them till they actually wore out. I  loved fabric, and the feel and textures it brought, and I loved making things that were useful to people. 

Over the years I have made dozens of baby quilts, and even started making flannel receiving blankets for little's that were larger than the ones you bought in the store and was told again and again how wonderful the bigger ones were for those little ones. 

I was hooked. Doing something I loved, and being rewarded by hearing how helpful and useful what I made was to folks. It was a perfect fit.  

I never ventured into larger quilts as I didn't have a quilting frame, they took up a lot of room. If I made them at all, I tied them. like the one I made for my sister. 

Back seven or eight years ago, I received a phone call from the Pastor at our church. The fire marshal had been out on inspection and all the quilting things from the former quilters group at our church was going to have to go. If I didn't want it and come get it, it was going to the dump. 

Back when my children were little, and we started attending our church, there were a group of older ladies who gathered one Tues of every  month and made quilts to be auctioned off at the churches university in Olathe for scholarships. As each of those ladies grew too old to continue the tradition, their materials, notions, and quilting frame sat idle in a back room at the church.

I loaded up and went out to get all the totes - 8 of them - full of fabric, kits, cut out quilt pieces, scissors, tape measures, marking pens, pins, instructions, and on and on and on. I sorted, and sifted and cleaned out and after giving away all the fabrics that were not appropriate for quilts, had 5 totes left. 

It might have been overwhelming to some, but I was like a alcoholic in a liquor store. I was drowning in fabric, ideas, and materials to sew and quilt till the day I died; literally.  

I found a quilt kit with the top that needed to be embroidered, but no floss; they had used it on something else. It was a tree of life, that I knew by looking at it would be beautiful in the right colors. I bought floss and began the process. I found the perfect backing material in a Jacobean print of muted tones, that literally sat for years waiting for me to finish embroidering the top. In between I made baby quilts, even a rather complicated one for our first grandchild. 

 I would embroidery in the evenings when the light was not good, and quilt during the day on my little embroidery hoop. 

As I completed projects they began to stack up on the king size bed in Audrey's bedroom. A baby quilt, two regular size quilts, even a bedspread. 

On my 60th birthday Audrey surprised me with a quilting frame. Not just any quilting frame, a adjustable, tilting, fancy, expensive quilting frame that I had been drooling over. Now I had no excuse not to finish those quilts. 

My first project was the Tree of Life quilt. The quilting lines were printed on it, and I figured it was a sure fire way to get off to a good start, and I was right. It was a job, but it was enjoyable, and I loved working on it. It didn't seem to take any time at all. 

As I worked on it, I realized what I had been missing by having a quilting frame. I was delighted to be able to see my work in such a broad scope, or at least what I thought of as broad. 

It afforded me such a bigger picture than the little hoop that I had used in the past. 

I worked diligently, and the entire quilt was finished in a matter of months.  

The next project was one of a little more complicated nature. 

It was a Texas Star quilt in red's, white's and blues, in pieces, partially put together. As I began to look at it more closely, and lay it out to see what else I might need, I became acutely aware that I would have to rip out what had been sewn and start completely over. The stitches were uneven and puckered, and it was lacking some diamonds, plus, what was I going to fill in the corners and middle sections with? 

As I began to scour for fabric, I found exactly what I needed, and purchased the backing and batting to get started. 

It has turned out great! Just what I wanted, I've just taken it off the frame, so am allowing it to rest a bit, but the binding is already cut and I will have that done shortly.  

In the mean time while I was working on this, I made a miniature quilt out of some dutch doll blocks that my mother made when she was just a little girl. It turned out beautiful as well, and will be the perfect addition to the wall in my office.  

This is an abbreviated version of my quilting exploits thus far. But I have to say that with each project finished, I am feeling more accomplished, and satisfied.  

Mother's Vegetable Soup Recipe

I have been doing more cooking.

I ask Amy and Alane for some recipes for the freezer—you know, make ahead, freeze, then just pull out, thaw and reheat, also for some new soup and stew recipes.

In discussing good soups and stews, my eldest sister, Amy, ask me if I had Mothers Vegetable soup recipe. My reaction was, “I didn’t even know mother HAD a recipe?!” I thought she always just ……made it. Amy said she had a recipe for Oxtail Soup that was the closest thing to Mothers vegetable soup recipe she had ever found and sent it to me.

I made it yesterday, tweaking it just a bit, as I didn’t use Oxtails or turnips, I didn’t even taste it through the process, but it smelled remarkably familiar.  This morning when I pulled it off the stove to cool, I did taste it, and was instantly transported back to childhood. It tastes EXACTLY like Mother’s vegetable soup.

I have written it and titled it Mother’s Homemade Vegetable Soup, because I have made the changes from the original Ox Tail Soup recipe that make it so……hope you will try it. 

Mother’s Vegetable Soup

2 ½ lb. beef back ribs

½ c. regular all-purpose flour

1 tsp. seasoned salt

3 Tsb. Shortening or salad oil

½ c. minced onion

1 Tsb. Salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

3 bay leaves

4-5 parsley sprigs       

1 1lb 13oz. can tomatoes

1 ½ qts. Cold water

12 3-in, diagonally-cut celery slices

½ c. diced celery

4-5 small to med. Potatoes cut in med chunks

½ c diced potatoes

12 3 in., diagonally cut carrot slices

½ c. diced carrots.

Few drops Tabasco

Day one:

1.In small bowl combine flour and seasoned salt; use to coat rib backs evenly.

2. In large Dutch kettle, in hot shortening or oil, brown meat pieces well, a few at a time; drain off excess oil, then brown onion.

3. Return meat to kettle with onion; add salt, pepper, bay leaves, parsley, tomatoes, and water. Simmer, covered, 2 hours until fork-tender. Cool; refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:

Skim any fat from the surface of the soup. Remove meat from bones, discarding bones. Bring remaining to boil; add celery, potatoes, and carrots. Simmer, covered, 45 minutes, or until large pieces of vegetables are fork-tender. Now add Tabasco.

The whole reason this is a two day process, is simply to let the fat rise to the top, cool, so you can skim it off. Otherwise you could do it in a day. But I also believe that letting it set overnight just enhances the flavors.

Also, don’t think that you don’t need the diced vegetables, because you do. They actually thicken the broth, adding more flavor.

I was afraid that 1 whole tablespoon of salt was going to be too much, but it actually could have used more salt; if I would have added home-canned tomatoes like Mama always used, I’m sure it would have been just right.

Now for the disclaimer……….as with most if not all the recipes that my mother ever made, this seemed to be a labor intensive recipe. Nothing my mom ever made seemed to go together quickly or easily, my mom struggled with taking shortcuts, in cooking especially, but it was always supreme in flavor; Anita said Mother “massaged the food”, which is why it always tasted so good. I know she was right. So if you have the time, I highly recommend it, and if you were ever fortunate enough to have had my Mother’s vegetable soup, you will know that it was worth every bit of time, effort and love she put into it.

If you choose to not actually make it, just consider it family history, like Grandma Wolf’s bread recipe, and the Meatloaf recipe.

A time to gather

As I am canning green beans, some thoughts surface in my mind.  I was reminded recently of something my mother said and most wives of farmers.  They said "It doesn't matter if harvest is early or late, the beans are always ready at harvest time".  I remember Mother driving the wheat truck for Daddy during harvest and then coming in and staying up late to can beans.  Our Grandma Horack (Millie) who stayed with us girls during harvest would have them picked and probably ready to can. 
Well, this year of 2012, wheat harvest began around this area in mid-May.  I checked the beans.  Sure enough, they were blooming.  By the time they were cutting our wheat, I was canning beans.  But I wasn't up half the night canning them. 
There were times that Mother canned beans even after harvest was over.  She would pick enough for a canner (7 quarts or 9 pints), wash, snap and pack them in jars.  Then she would get them in the pressure canner and get the pressure built up.  She would say "You watch the pressure gauge and if it gets over a certain number, you call me". Then she would go out to pick beans for the next canner.  Made me very nervous.  I watched that gauge like a hawk.  She always said you should but up 1 qt of whatever you were doing for each week of the year and some extra for company.  That was the canning rule.
 The year I really learned how to can beans, Aunt Doris and Uncle Harold were going to California to see Jean and John.  Aunt Doris said," Anita, the beans will be ready to can while we're gone.  You come out and can them".  Clinton was a baby.  But I went out.  He sat in his little seat.  I picked the beans and canned them for Aunt Doris.  Everything went fine.  Lots of memories of canning at Aunt Doris's. 
When you are used to home canned goods, nothing tastes the same.  We are very thankful for the produce and the knowledge to know how to preserve them.

The Orange Rolls

Holidays at our house mean lots of cooking, but perhaps the one thing that everyone looks forward to Mom making more than any other are the Orange Rolls we have for Christmas breakfast.

I received an e-mail this year from a friend requesting the Orange Roll recipe and thought I should post it here as well. There is a history in bread making for me. You see, when I took Home Economics in High School my teacher told us the first day of my freshman year:

“ If you can learn to make bread, any kind of bread, yeast bread, quick breads, muffins, biscuits, you can learn to make anything. There is a science in bread making, especially yeast breads—master those and you will be able to cook anything else you want.”

We spent our first 6 weeks of cooking class making breads, every shape, size and description. Some I have made ever since, others I never made again, but she was right, learning how to make bread gave me the confidence to cook other things.

When you make bread you have to be willing to get your hands in it, flour all over your apron, and maybe even on your face. But there is nothing that you will make that will bring smiles to the faces of the people you love like bread, any kind of bread, fresh from the oven.

Surveys have shown that one of the most comforting scents to most people is the smell of bread baking……..need I say more?

Merry Christmas!

Glazed Orange Rolls

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 pkg active dry yeast

1 cup milk

½ cup sugar

3 T. butter or margarine

3 eggs

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. Heat milk, ½ cup suger, 3 T. butter, and ½ t. salt till warm (115-120o), stirring to melt butter. ( If you can dip your finger into the mixture and it feel really warm but not HOT, it is ready—too hot will kill your yeast). Add to dry mixture; add eggs. Beat at low speed with the mixer for ½ min., scraping bowl. Beat 3 min. at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough. Knead on a floured surface till smooth (3-5 min). Place in an oiled bowl; turn once to coat. Cover; let rise till double (1-1 ½ hours). Punch down; divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 min.

While your dough is rising. Mix:

 6 Tablespoons butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp. shredded orange peel

Roll each half to 12X8-inch rectangle. Spread the butter mixture over dough. Roll up, staring with the long side; seal seams. Slice each into 12 rolls. (I use a piece of sewing thread to cut my rolls. Take the two ends, hold them apart, slide it up under the rolled up dough, and then cross the ends over, and it will cut the rolls without crushing them.) Place in greased 9x1 ½ in. round baking pans. Cover; let rise till double (about 1 ½ hrs.) Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 min. Remove from pan immediately. Place right side up on plate or large piece of aluminum foil.

While rolls are baking, combine:

1 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice

While rolls are still warm, drizzle glaze over them. Make 24 rolls.

(I don't always remove mine from the pan. :)

Sand Plum Jelly Memories...

This is the time of year that I do more nesting--I'm not sure about resting.
Summer is over, the weather is cooler, and I'm inside more, and cooking more. I'm cleaning out flower beds and putting away lawn furniture, repotting plants to move inside for the winter, so I think about such things...... I was reminded of something the other day along the lines of cooking and I share it with you here.

My mother used to make sand plum jelly.


Sand plums grow along the banks of creeks and the river, she told me one time. She would manage to get her hands on them, cook them up and with enough sugar make a really tasty, pretty, jelly.

As she got older sand plum jelly was about the only kind of jelly she ever had; she never bought jelly, are you kidding. She gave it as gifts, and we girls always received a jar to take home with us, or she delivered it herself upon visits. Sometimes she would make grape/sand plum jelly, or strawberry/sand plum, occasionally there would be apple/sand plum, or if we were lucky raspberry/sand plum if she could find the raspberries on sale. Sand plums became her “go to” fruit for jelly, and she had it on hand all the time. I remember actually wishing one time upon a visit that she would keep something other than sand plum jelly in the house just once and awhile. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, and the pretty reddish color made it more than appetizing, but it was always sand plum.

I say all this to preface the fact that the other day when I had used up every other jar of jelly in the house on Sam and I’s morning toast, I was digging in the pantry looking for a jar of jam or jelly, and low and behold what did I find? You bet—a jar of Mother’s sand plum jelly. (my sisters are grinning, and wondering “just how old was that jar of jelly Andrea!!??) Well I don’t know how old it was, but if the seal was any indication, I knew it was good, cause I thought I was NEVER gonna get it open. (yep, sounds like Mother :)

I tasted it, yes, tasted good, I shook it, jiggled it, it was fine, and as I spooned it onto the toast it hit me—this was the last jar of my mother’s sand plum jelly I would ever have.

Yes, I started to cry—funny the realizations that will bring you to tears—but I did. I told Sam about his Great-Grandma and her love for sand plum jelly. I told him about how she loved to cook. How she loved us through her cooking, how she would have loved to sit and watch him eat, and I gave him his first bite of toast with sand plum jelly and waited……… He inhaled it; and the next bite, and the one after that.    Mother would have loved it.


 recipe available and photo of sand plums courteously of http://www.heritagerecipes.com/