Monday, November 30, 2009
30 Websites for Retro Inspiration
My Google Blogs digest alerted me to this post, full of luscious retro goodness. Wow.
No, I will NOT be part of Iowa history after all.
Maria,
Jen Cannon, Competitive Events Director, for the Iowa State Fair confirmed that Jim Pfiffner’s quilt design won. His design will be among the other 99 counties in Iowa to have a barn quilt mural displayed on the outside of the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center in 2010. The winning designs will be on display at the Iowa Fairs Conference in December. Please look for an upcoming announcement about the winning design in the newspaper.
Thank you for your interest in the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center Tile Design Contest. I commend you for designing a quilt mural that is truly unique.
Kris
The Capehart is on eBay
I put the Capehart Panamuse on eBay last night. I hate to do it, but we cannot afford to restore it, and I want SOMEONE to.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner Clean-Up Made Easi(er) with a Presto Pressure Cooker
Last spring I bought a 23-quart Presto pressure cooker at the recommendation of Judy Laquidara. I have used it much more than I guessed I would! I am now in a routine of making turkey or chicken stock and canning it, and using it just about as fast as I can make it. I thought I'd tell you about how this helped this Thanksgiving.
We had a 20-pound bird which I roasted unstuffed this year. I rubbed herbed olive oil beneath the skin and roasted it breast side down and it came out very nice and moist. Barry carved it, doing a great job of boning most of the meat as he went, so after dinner, instead of having to face my usual after-dinner chore of boning the rest of the meat, that part was done for me. I emptied the roaster into my Presto pressure cooker. I have developed the habit of keeping a freezer bag handy in my freezer into which go all the vegetable scraps we produce - onion skins and root ends, carrot and parsnip tops, potato peelings, even apple cores and in this case a pineapple core. I dumped that bag into my pressure cooker, too, and then I filled the pressure canner with hot tap water to the maximum fill line. I cooked all that for an hour at about 15 pounds pressure, then let it cool down on the back porch. I drained off all the broth, threw out all the other stuff, chilled the broth further so that I could easily defat it, then canned the broth, again in the pressure canner, at 11 pounds pressure, 25 minutes (quart jars). I should probably can some pints because sometimes we don't need a whole quart of broth.
Extracting all possible flavor from the bones of the bird makes me feel thrifty. :o)
We had a 20-pound bird which I roasted unstuffed this year. I rubbed herbed olive oil beneath the skin and roasted it breast side down and it came out very nice and moist. Barry carved it, doing a great job of boning most of the meat as he went, so after dinner, instead of having to face my usual after-dinner chore of boning the rest of the meat, that part was done for me. I emptied the roaster into my Presto pressure cooker. I have developed the habit of keeping a freezer bag handy in my freezer into which go all the vegetable scraps we produce - onion skins and root ends, carrot and parsnip tops, potato peelings, even apple cores and in this case a pineapple core. I dumped that bag into my pressure cooker, too, and then I filled the pressure canner with hot tap water to the maximum fill line. I cooked all that for an hour at about 15 pounds pressure, then let it cool down on the back porch. I drained off all the broth, threw out all the other stuff, chilled the broth further so that I could easily defat it, then canned the broth, again in the pressure canner, at 11 pounds pressure, 25 minutes (quart jars). I should probably can some pints because sometimes we don't need a whole quart of broth.
Extracting all possible flavor from the bones of the bird makes me feel thrifty. :o)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Blaze Orange Daughter
Britta is home for Thanksgiving, and Barry's sister Ronda, her husband Bill and their little girl are also here from Texas. Bill has been trying to bring in his first deer. This afternoon he took Britta out with him, and she asked me to take a picture of her in blaze orange.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving service over at the church tonight. I always wish I could stay home and then I'm always so glad I didn't, once I'm there. It was wonderful. I just love my church.
National Tie One On Day (a little early)
National Tie One On Day has nothing to do with what YOU were thinking just then. It's supposed to be a chance for women to encourage other women in the midst of the holiday bustle and fuss. See, you're supposed to make a homemade baked good, possibly bread or maybe something else, wrap it in an apron and give it to a woman in need of encouragement, with a little note offering encouraging words. I made my apron Saturday night because that's when there was time, and as I sewed, I prayed about who it should go to. I got an extremely clear, and rather surprising, answer - a woman I see about 3 times a year and don't know well at all. So I really think it was an answer to my prayer. Since I had an easy way to deliver a gift to her on Sunday I also made a loaf of bread.
A funny thing is that since God had given me this woman's name as the person who needed some encouraging, I assumed that He would also give me the words of encouragement she needed. So I opened the Bible and started searching for the words I was to give her. And instead I kept finding words that really aren't very encouraging - like geneaologies. :o) And proverbs about not eating too much honey, or wisdom calling out at the gates. Very obscure, if it was meant to be encouraging! I ended up just writing her a note saying the truth, that I pray for her, and I do, and I'll keep doing it, too.
Here is the apron and bread I sent. The apron is a disappointment to me because I made it of scraps and wasn't thinking and made the waist sash rather short. I ran out of scraps! Argh!
A funny thing is that since God had given me this woman's name as the person who needed some encouraging, I assumed that He would also give me the words of encouragement she needed. So I opened the Bible and started searching for the words I was to give her. And instead I kept finding words that really aren't very encouraging - like geneaologies. :o) And proverbs about not eating too much honey, or wisdom calling out at the gates. Very obscure, if it was meant to be encouraging! I ended up just writing her a note saying the truth, that I pray for her, and I do, and I'll keep doing it, too.
Here is the apron and bread I sent. The apron is a disappointment to me because I made it of scraps and wasn't thinking and made the waist sash rather short. I ran out of scraps! Argh!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Blenback Oilcloth Shelf Edging with Strawberries
This is 1940s-1950s Blenback oilcloth shelf lining with an edge that you fold over. I bought a bolt of it on eBay thinking I'd use what I wanted and then sell the rest at LulusDressShop.com, but it's very brittle, and I'm afraid my buyers would be disappointed.
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