Happy Reading

I love homemaking, cookbooks and simple, old-fashioned living. So I've been really glad to acquire these two books recently - "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" and "The Amish Cook's Anniversary Book." Reading them will be ideal as I stay in from the heat and sit by the AC. I enjoy anything that's encouraging along the lines of being a mom-at-home and food preparation. Now to go get something icy to drink and sit a spell ...


Here are links that show these books:


http://www.amazon.com/Mennonite-Girls-Cook-Lovella-Schellenberg/dp/0836195531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309378429&sr=1-1


http://www.amazon.com/Amish-Cooks-Anniversary-Book-Family/dp/0740797654/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309378429&sr=1-2

Cool Meals for Summer

When I was growing up, and the summer weather was hot and sizzling like it is now, Mom would make cool meals every so often, instead of having to heat up the kitchen.


One thing I remember is a "cold plate" she liked to put together for us. She'd open a can of salmon (just eat it cold) and divide that on our plates, then add helpings of various other things to the plates such as cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes, leftover salads, canned peaches, etc. And it was good and cool and refreshing.


Also sometimes she'd fix "chef's salads." A bowl with lettuce, meat, cheese, boiled eggs, tomatoes, etc., with dressing. Also cool and refreshing. Above is the version I eat now that I've been hooked on lately. It consists of lettuce (Romaine mix from the store), honey-roasted turkey lunchmeat, shredded cheese, little-bitty tomatoes from the store, seasoned croutons and dressing. If it wasn't hot and I wasn't so lazy, I'd have some eggs boiled up and add that too! Maybe I'll get in gear and do that anyway. Boiled eggs are nice to have on hand for tuna salad, filled eggs and such.


That's some more cool food for summer - Mom would make sandwich filling from leftover roast beef, or make tuna salad, and that made a good sandwich to enjoy.

Just a Pitcher

When I was growing up, we had the neatest pitcher that was in pretty much constant use in the summer. It was amber, round like a globe, and had a "crinkly" texture. You couldn't count the times a batch of iced tea (from instant, heh) was made in that pitcher for consumption during hot weather. Can't remember if we had glasses to match, maybe we did? But I sure remember that pitcher. It's etched permanently in my mind as a symbol of "home" and "summer."


I don't know what happened to that pitcher. Perhaps it broke (don't think so), perhaps it got mucked-up from sitting down under the cabinet, maybe it got lost in the dark recesses of said cabinet and I glossed over it when I was getting things out of the house.


Well. Here a few weeks back, we were visiting a store in a nearby town. A gentleman buys things at estate sales or surplus sales or wherever, then sells all kinds of things in his store. His wife helps, and they're really pleasant and friendly to visit with when we go there. The shelves hold everything, from tools to business supplies to knick-knacks to toys to old-fashioned antiques ... you never know. As I walked around this time, I saw a set of five glasses in this amber-colored "crinkle" pattern. That was close enough! They found a home with us, and I've particularly enjoyed drinking cool drinks from them to try to beat this over-100-degree heat.


I'll be the first to admit I have a bad addiction to the thrift store in the nearby bigger town. You just never know what you'll find! It's like a perpetual garage sale. Now I have been trying to "tone down" on going there so often, plus trying to take MORE things over than I BRING HOME. So far I've been fairly successful, and there's a little more order around our house. The other day I took some things over, and DID NOT GO IN THE STORE.


Today I had a few errands to run to prepare for the weekend, and I had 3 sacks of things to leave at this store. I didn't plan to go in. I really didn't. I really didn't!!! But then I thought, oh well, I'll just nose around a bit just to see what's what. So I delivered my donations, then went in. I went on my usual "tour path" ... books/magazines, blouses, bedding and misc. items, shoes, material, purses, skirts, household goods. I had snagged a few things and was clanking around on the lower plate-and-saucer shelf. But nothing there I needed ... so I stood up. And came FACE-TO-FACE (and I'm tall!) with an amber, "crinkly," round-like-a-globe, in-great-condition PITCHER!


Long story short - that pitcher left the shelf so fast I'm surprised it didn't catch on fire from the speed friction. "MINE!!!!" It came home with me, and is now happily providing a batch of tea, made from instant, in our refrigerator. To help battle this heat wave that just won't let go. I'm thankful for ice and drinks!


I think perhaps God knew what might help fix some of my deep homesickness. I know, it's "just a pitcher," but the memories it brings back are precious and happy. God knows I need good doses of that right now.


Here's my awesome, homesick-fixing pitcher and glass set. :)

Terrycloth Aprons

I enjoy collecting aprons, and I also enjoy using them. I like that they represent an earlier generation, but they are also very, very useful. Generally, I like to wear a full apron, as I tend to get a little sloppy in the kitchen. (Surely not! I don't dribble batter, or send flour flying out of the bowl, or spatter things ... do I?) But with this HOT weather lately, I can't bear to wear a full apron - just too stifling. So this is a good time to wear half-aprons. It doesn't fully protect, but at least helps.


These terrycloth aprons are interesting to me. I don't remember where I picked them up - either an auction, or yard sale, or some such thing. They appear to have been commercially made, as one has a tag in the seam. But this terrycloth idea appeals to me - comfortable, soft, absorbent and easy to wash. Plus, they're plenty colorful! Who can't be cheerful looking at that bright checked-flowered pattern?

Thrift Store Find - Summer Coverlet

OK, I have this thing. I don't like to have my bed covers or bedspread touching the floor. I think it stems from a problem with crickets when I was a kid. I also worry about spiders. So I try to put "twin" or "full" size covers on our king-size mattress, just to cover it, but not go to the floor. The white chenille bedspread I had was nice, but it was a little long, and had fringe that was flirting with touching the floor. That made me nervous.


Of course, I just can't stay away from the thrift store. Though I did have a day awhile back that I actually took some things over, and DIDN'T GO IN THE STORE. Wowee! But just the other day, I looked at the bed-cover rack, and there was a blue-and-white cotton "quilted" coverlet. It's square, and though commercial-made, looks nice with diagonal criss-cross "quilting." And the batting isn't that thick, so it's not heavy. Just right for summer in case you need just a little something over you. I thought $6 was a good price!


A big view, it almost reminds me of "window panes."




There are four huge blocks in the middle, then the corners and edges (shown below) have smaller blocks and strips, though they're still pretty good-sized. It's a visually "chunky" quilt with the huge pieces of fabric.




The back and binding are solid blue. This will be a very enjoyable quilt for the rest of the summer. Now if it would just get below 100 degrees and rain on us a little.

Amish-style Treat for Hot Weather

For quite awhile now, and still to go for at least another day, we've had 100-plus-degree temperatures. I'm sapped, I tell you. I don't know how people did it before air conditioning. All I want to do is stay in, drink a lot, and eat only cold or easy stuff. And not much of that. I sat on the couch this afternoon, feeling completely sapped. I thought that only something cold ... something fruity ... even REMOTELY sounded good. Then I remembered something ...


For years and years now, I've enjoyed reading and learning about the Amish. One story I read a long time back mentioned a thing called "cold fruit soup," I think in the German dialect they use it was "kalte brockelsup," or something like that. All it is, is a serving bowl with bread broken into it, fruit put on top of that (strawberries, or peaches, or bananas, etc.), sugar sprinkled on to taste, then milk poured over. This sounded interesting to me at the time, but even as long ago as that's been, I haven't ever tried it - until now.


It was delicious, cool and refreshing.


I cleaned my bowl up.


I feel a LOT better now.


If you're so hot you can't stand it, and this sounds like something you'd try, I sure encourage you to give it a whirl!

Crochet Whimsy

Awhile back, I found some thick, chunky, colorful yarn at wallyworld, and got some just to see what I could do with it. Well, here are a couple of things that came off the crochet hook - a sort of small table "scarf" thing, and a crocheted "bowl" or "basket" (it even has handles!). So here are 3 colors together for a sort of modern-art effect. Better than the fall runner that was on there, even in June!




Closeup of "scarf," "basket," and a ball of yarn waiting its turn to be made into something ... unusual. :) Hey, it's fun, anyway!