If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Mid-March catch up

I am fine and still here- just have not been visiting or writing blogs much. But I have no plans to stay away from the blog neighborhood - just took a little break
I have done very little shopping but I was in Walmart today and a worker in the children's department told me I should look in the buggy where she has just marked down an assortment of things.
I didn't dig through it all but I did pick out a nice assortment of socks for all my grandchildren, 
The packs with 2 or 3 pairs were 50 cents each. 
The packs with 6-10 pairs were $1.
9 of our family members were here Saturday. This is the lunch I put together. 
Homemade honey oat and white sandwich buns
A meat plate with cheese, sliced ham and chicken salad
Sandwich toppings -sliced onions, tomatoes, lettuce
A veggie plate with dip 
A fresh fruit plate 
And a peach crisp- not in the photo
most all the ingredients for this meal were purchased at Aldi- I am so thankful for this affordable and easy to shop at grocery store
I've baked lots of sandwich buns but have never got the hot dog buns quite right. But I've baked them twice lately and have been a lot happier with them. When I cut out the dough, it seems the unbaked unrisen dough for the hotdog buns needs to start out just a tad bigger than the hot dog. The dough will rise quite a bit and doing it like this gives a bun that is just the right size to hold the hot dog. 

All 5 of my grands at one time - this was at Andie's 2nd birthday party. The other 75 or so party goers were trying to get these 5 to smile for the photo. But instead of smiling, I think the grands were overwhelmed. So, instead of their usual smiling faces, this photo kind of looks like a group baby mugshot.


The seeds growing in eggshells are doing great. If next weeks weather forecast is warm, I am going to move the tomatoes to the outdoor planters then. 
I've been saving most of my eggshells and planted flower seeds in 28 more yesterday.
The tomatoes are the tallest. 
Our country friends with chickens are selling eggs after a dry spell in the winter. 
They have the nicest eggs with bright orange yolks and the shells are light blue and shades of brown.
I am so happy to have good eggs again!
Handwork  - I've been working on a gingham check cover for a tissue box, made with yarn and plastic canvas. Once I got the pattern started, it is almost a no brainer. Sometimes it is nice to just work on something and not have to concentrate much. 


I've been quiet because I have just been sad. A neighbor  passed away unexpectedly from pneumonia.  

Also, a very good friend was killed, so unexpectedly, in a 104 car pileup in Colorado.  She was a very dear, sweet lady.  
This is one of  the songs that was played at her funeral,  and it really sums up her attitude- Love God,  love your family


I am thankful to of known both of them but I do miss them and I know their families are just heartbroken.

 I am also thankful to know so many of you sweet bloggers through the nice  comments you leave  here and through your blogs.  

Hopefully, next week,  things will be more normal here and I will be back to regular blog writing and visiting. 

Monday, March 10, 2014

Weekend Sewing

This sweet little baby doll cradle was handed down to Grand daughter Elizabeth from some church friends. It has already been played with by 2 generations.  The wood bed was in great shape but it needed new bedding.

The old bedding, kind of eww, right?  But I am glad I had the old bedding to use as a pattern.
Sewing up the new bedding was easy. I had pink polka dot and solid white squares left from Elizabeth's 1st birthday quilt. I used them for the quilt and pillow. The mattress is covered with striped vintage sheet fabric. 
I think she will like it. :)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Weekend cooking

Our weather is so changing.  We had snow at the first of this week, then some warm sunshiny days and today has been cold and rainy. 
Today was a good day to do some baking.
I tried a new to me cookie recipe,  for those famous New York City Black and Whites. I've never been to NYC and have no plans to go so I figured I should just bake some myself.
I baked them exactly as the recipe was written,  I used my large Pampered Chef scoop and ended up with 10 big cookies.  
They are really good,  the cookie is soft like cake but is still sturdy enough to eat with your hand like a regular cookie.  We liked them a lot and I will make them again but will probably make them smaller.  They really do taste like something from a fancy bakery but they are easy to make with basic kitchen ingredients.
Have any of you had a real Black and White cookie in New York City? I am wondering how much they sell for there. I estimate the ingredients in my recipe cost about $1.50 for all 10 big cookies. 

I used the bread machine to mix up the dough for our everyday sandwich buns
one of my goals for 2014 is to make all our bread and so far, I have.  It tastes better and cost so much less. 
Then I mixed up a second batch of dough but increased the sugar to 1/2 cup and added chopped raisins and pecans.  When the dough had risen, I rolled it out like cinnamon rolls and spread it with soft butter and cinnamon sugar. It was enough dough to make a standard size loaf and a small loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. 
 
my husband is shelling more pecans, on the thirds.  From this current batch,  he has cleaned 8 gallons.

 
I guess I should be looking for more pecan recipes  :) 
 
what are you baking?

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Hanger dilemma

I need to clean out our closet but am waiting for the seasons to change. When that happens, we should have more than enough hangers after I clean out unused things.
But until then, we have a hanger shortage. 
I like the older plastic hangers that used to be a dozen for a $1 or so, but I went to buy some a few months ago and was unhappy to see how thin the tubes are on them now. It seems manufacturers will save a penny just anywhere. 
I could tell those new hangers were too thin and would not hold up at all. I did buy a few of the thicker ones that are sturdy enough for jeans or jackets, but they are about $2 for just 3. 
So, for months, on laundry day, I have been scrambling to find a hanger for every clean garment. 
We had a few sturdy wire hangers so I decided to just make them do. 
I used fabric glue and scrap fabric cut into about 3/4 inch strips. 
Then, while I watched TV one evening, I just wrapped those hangers until they looked pretty. 
Wrapping them gives them a little cushion to help prevent hangar wrinkles and enough traction that clothes should not easily slip off. 

If you are a crocheter, you could make yarn covers. 

This was very frugal as I just used things on hand. I think older children would like making them for their own closets or for gifts too.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Passing on traditions

Granddaughter Elizabeth was here on Monday, partly because her school was cancelled for snow and also to visit my parents who were here for 4 days.
We needed another treat so I mixed up cinnamon roll dough in the bread machine. Then Elizabeth helped roll out and fill the cinnamon rolls. This photo is while we frosted them. 

Elizabeth likes to say "getting messy is the funnest part of cooking" 
She didn't learn that from me, I am mostly a neat cook. But cooking easy things like cinnamon rolls with little ones is especially fun. 
I plan on doing it anytime we can. Childhood goes so so fast.