For quite some time I have been struggling with content for this blog and I have come to the conclusion that it has run it's course... I will no longer be updating this blog because even though some of you have come to enjoy what I write, there really is nothing earth shattering or particularly satisfying to me of the subjects that I have been posting.
So for the time being, if you really need to see what I am up to, check out my etsy store at www.etsy.com/shop/susanbeingsnippy
or on twitter I can be found as @susanbsnippy
or even some of my photos on instagram as susanbeingsnippy
and on Pinterest, too! http://www.pinterest.com/susanbgsnippy/
I have disabled comments so as to avoid spam use as I do not plan to monitor this blog on a regular basis.
Thank you for reading my writing for the past 5 years or so (I haven't kept track) and I greatly appreciate those of you have written comments and encouragements!
Susan being Snippy
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Friday, September 5, 2014
The Future of Food - Diet Quality
Earlier this week, I discovered a series being presented on the National Geographic website called The Future of Food...
Whew! Some of the subjects that involve food are quite intricate and complicated... Very far beyond just sitting down at your table (here in Canada) to have dinner and as my Dad often said "shoveling it in".
One subject area when it comes to food that is looked into is The Gap in Diet Quality between Rich and Poor
This article (click on the highlighted text to read it ) takes on the question of obesity because of the poor quality of food that lower income households are forced to consume. Poor food quality or lack of access to quality food means that if you have a limited income the meats that you buy are poorer quality, more fat content and raised in such a way as to contain the things that make the animal grow or produce faster... In Canada growth hormones are not legal in animals destined for human consumption, but it is allowed in the USA. So is the quality of the meat okay in the LONG run for us to eat?
I surely am no scientist and cannot answer that question, but I have come to realize that from being on the low end of the income scale for a number of years that it is often quite difficult to buy the healthy product. Things often left out of a low income menu plan in any given month is FISH and often Chicken or other Poultry. Hamburger prevails on a low income diet, and really what is in GROUND MEAT?. Fresh Vegetables often are lacking simply because access to a garden or Farmer's Markets may be out of the area. Vegetables in a low income diet are often frozen or canned, I think, mainly because if fresh vegetables go bad in the fridge, it is waste that a low income household just cannot afford...
I noticed just the other day that two shows NEW (to us) are now on the Food Network Canada, that would be good for those with lower incomes to learn about making good choices -- yesterday was all about using pork shoulder even to making dim sum steamed buns with left over meat! --- Jamie's Money Saving Meals (check out the web site info) In my area the show is on daily at 2 pm (Shaw Vancouver listing -- the time may differ in other areas) And on at 1 pm daily is Gordon Ramsey's Cookery Course (no SWEARING! hahaha) but you pretty much have to watch the episode because Mr. Ramsey charges real money to access his recipes on his website, so if you watch his show, have pen and paper in hand to write down any hints or tips that you might want to try out.
This week my trip to one of the thrift shops resulted in buying a Company's Coming Meatless Cooking recipe book (by Jean Pare`) for two bucks... In a way these cookbooks are an easy format to use because of their smaller size and ring binding that allows the pages to lay flat, but I often find miss prints or ingredients that seem to be out of place in many of the recipes. An often occurring ingredient in many of these recipes is canned soups, so you should note that there is probably more salt than is needed in many of these recipes. I also wonder if you need canned soups for a recipe, is it economical, or could you use perhaps some milk, chopped mushroom, a bit of nutmeg instead of canned mushroom soup? Perhaps that would be more economical and more healthy too! Though of course it might take an extra minute or two to chop or mix those things in...
Are you following my Friday is for Food project? I hope you are finding some of the info and the links that I mention of interest and adds more depth to make the subject useful. Let me know if you are looking for something about food that I might post here, or if you have an idea for me...
... next week I am planning and looking for some breakfast ideas...
Whew! Some of the subjects that involve food are quite intricate and complicated... Very far beyond just sitting down at your table (here in Canada) to have dinner and as my Dad often said "shoveling it in".
One subject area when it comes to food that is looked into is The Gap in Diet Quality between Rich and Poor
This article (click on the highlighted text to read it ) takes on the question of obesity because of the poor quality of food that lower income households are forced to consume. Poor food quality or lack of access to quality food means that if you have a limited income the meats that you buy are poorer quality, more fat content and raised in such a way as to contain the things that make the animal grow or produce faster... In Canada growth hormones are not legal in animals destined for human consumption, but it is allowed in the USA. So is the quality of the meat okay in the LONG run for us to eat?
I surely am no scientist and cannot answer that question, but I have come to realize that from being on the low end of the income scale for a number of years that it is often quite difficult to buy the healthy product. Things often left out of a low income menu plan in any given month is FISH and often Chicken or other Poultry. Hamburger prevails on a low income diet, and really what is in GROUND MEAT?. Fresh Vegetables often are lacking simply because access to a garden or Farmer's Markets may be out of the area. Vegetables in a low income diet are often frozen or canned, I think, mainly because if fresh vegetables go bad in the fridge, it is waste that a low income household just cannot afford...
I noticed just the other day that two shows NEW (to us) are now on the Food Network Canada, that would be good for those with lower incomes to learn about making good choices -- yesterday was all about using pork shoulder even to making dim sum steamed buns with left over meat! --- Jamie's Money Saving Meals (check out the web site info) In my area the show is on daily at 2 pm (Shaw Vancouver listing -- the time may differ in other areas) And on at 1 pm daily is Gordon Ramsey's Cookery Course (no SWEARING! hahaha) but you pretty much have to watch the episode because Mr. Ramsey charges real money to access his recipes on his website, so if you watch his show, have pen and paper in hand to write down any hints or tips that you might want to try out.
This week my trip to one of the thrift shops resulted in buying a Company's Coming Meatless Cooking recipe book (by Jean Pare`) for two bucks... In a way these cookbooks are an easy format to use because of their smaller size and ring binding that allows the pages to lay flat, but I often find miss prints or ingredients that seem to be out of place in many of the recipes. An often occurring ingredient in many of these recipes is canned soups, so you should note that there is probably more salt than is needed in many of these recipes. I also wonder if you need canned soups for a recipe, is it economical, or could you use perhaps some milk, chopped mushroom, a bit of nutmeg instead of canned mushroom soup? Perhaps that would be more economical and more healthy too! Though of course it might take an extra minute or two to chop or mix those things in...
Are you following my Friday is for Food project? I hope you are finding some of the info and the links that I mention of interest and adds more depth to make the subject useful. Let me know if you are looking for something about food that I might post here, or if you have an idea for me...
... next week I am planning and looking for some breakfast ideas...
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Work in Progress -- Scrappy Bits
Finally! Back to the sewing machine! This week, I have been working on using all some of those left over bits from other projects...
I had a Fabric Sale in Mid July as part of a group Garage Sale and did fairly well in selling off some of my larger fabric pieces but the shoe boxes with scrap bits that were usually less than 4 inches in any one direction remained in shoe boxes...
Earlier this week I was thinking about how I can use these bits... Then I remembered the blocks that people across Canada donated to the flood relief efforts in Calgary back in the spring of 2012 that Cheryl Arkison had organized. And you can see some of the blocks as they are on the HEADER of her blog at Dining Room Empire and it even turns out that her current post is about scraps and about clearing them out of her own stash!! Perhaps this is the season of Scrapping Scraps?? I am not quite ready to get rid of them so....
I had a Fabric Sale in Mid July as part of a group Garage Sale and did fairly well in selling off some of my larger fabric pieces but the shoe boxes with scrap bits that were usually less than 4 inches in any one direction remained in shoe boxes...
Earlier this week I was thinking about how I can use these bits... Then I remembered the blocks that people across Canada donated to the flood relief efforts in Calgary back in the spring of 2012 that Cheryl Arkison had organized. And you can see some of the blocks as they are on the HEADER of her blog at Dining Room Empire and it even turns out that her current post is about scraps and about clearing them out of her own stash!! Perhaps this is the season of Scrapping Scraps?? I am not quite ready to get rid of them so....
So I am making some of these "Just One Slab" type blocks. I doing some sewing and might get these odd scrappy bits made into one or two utility quilts or even to use these "slabs" as backing for more 'formal' blocks...
As things go these are IN PROGRESS and I really don't have a final destination for them yet! I am encouraged tho, that after many months of not being very enthusiastic about sewing some of that joy is creeping back in!
Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network this week...
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Municipal Elections
I must admit I am the kind of person who generally accepts things as they occur. A very long time ago, I considered myself to be quite political and very interested in the things that the elected people in our municipalities, provinces and country did to keep things running.
The one who really "fired me up" was Ed Shreyer. He was elected to the riding that I lived in when I was a teenager. Yes, my Dad talked about him, and was impressed by him and I am sure he voted for him. From then on, I mainly voted for the New Democratic Candidate where ever I lived, though on occasion I did vote Liberal or even Conservative or whatever the party name was that came closest to what I thought was right for the things I believed in. Yes, I was and am still pretty much a socialist, but not exclusively, as I think everyone's ideals adjust slightly with whoever is elected and how they conduct themselves during their time in office.
One of the things that I have always been fascinated by is the short memory of the people and that it seems to take a major effort to go and vote. What motivates a person to vote for or in reality more often AGAINST someone or something? Do people actually take the time to read and listen and study the consequences or previous actions either of the Party in Power or of the Elected Official. Or might it be they hear snippets of opinions and look or listen no further to base a decision on?
Strangely, the type of election that is most likely to directly affect you is the smallest election and usually the election that fewest of us vote in. The Municipal Election. I must admit to actually not even taking the time to go and vote in past elections. When I lived in Victoria, BC I never once went to vote in a Municipal Election! My excuse? Maybe it was those years were filled with raising teenagers and holding a job and at the same time going to college to learn accounting. Not too much else could fit into my life!
In more recent years I have gone to vote in local elections, though really I did not necessarily know the 'point of view' of some of the city Councillors. I was generally satisfied with those who ran our town, through the 1990's and into the 2000's, but now things have changed quite drastically.
Our council is not something that I can say I am happy with as it stands and with Municipal Elections coming this November -- the third Saturday this year -- just a bit less than 3 months away.... I am thinking that this year I am going to try to keep a bit better informed and if I cannot attend information meetings, I am going to try to find out what is and who doing what, when, where and how...
In my city, Abbotsford, BC there have been a number on ongoing problems that NEED a resolution, things that need to find a way for our government and citizens to stop chasing their tails like a young dog who is not quite sure what that fluffy thing is just out of reach....
Now, as I was taught many years ago, I do not plan to announce or advertise my position on any of the points that will soon be appearing for local people to think on and vote on come November 15, because I am not running for a position, nor I suspect will I agree with everything one person says over another...
But I am planning to PAY ATTENTION and make a decision and show up on Voting Day... I am hoping to learn much about my city and maybe about the people who are putting their names forward to attempt to win a position on our city council and hopefully who are accepting the responsibility that their decisions will be affecting many lives as they serve our city for the next 3 years...
** all photos that appear in this posting are taken by ME around ABBOTSFORD, BC during different seasons, doing different things.***
The one who really "fired me up" was Ed Shreyer. He was elected to the riding that I lived in when I was a teenager. Yes, my Dad talked about him, and was impressed by him and I am sure he voted for him. From then on, I mainly voted for the New Democratic Candidate where ever I lived, though on occasion I did vote Liberal or even Conservative or whatever the party name was that came closest to what I thought was right for the things I believed in. Yes, I was and am still pretty much a socialist, but not exclusively, as I think everyone's ideals adjust slightly with whoever is elected and how they conduct themselves during their time in office.
One of the things that I have always been fascinated by is the short memory of the people and that it seems to take a major effort to go and vote. What motivates a person to vote for or in reality more often AGAINST someone or something? Do people actually take the time to read and listen and study the consequences or previous actions either of the Party in Power or of the Elected Official. Or might it be they hear snippets of opinions and look or listen no further to base a decision on?
Strangely, the type of election that is most likely to directly affect you is the smallest election and usually the election that fewest of us vote in. The Municipal Election. I must admit to actually not even taking the time to go and vote in past elections. When I lived in Victoria, BC I never once went to vote in a Municipal Election! My excuse? Maybe it was those years were filled with raising teenagers and holding a job and at the same time going to college to learn accounting. Not too much else could fit into my life!
In more recent years I have gone to vote in local elections, though really I did not necessarily know the 'point of view' of some of the city Councillors. I was generally satisfied with those who ran our town, through the 1990's and into the 2000's, but now things have changed quite drastically.
Our council is not something that I can say I am happy with as it stands and with Municipal Elections coming this November -- the third Saturday this year -- just a bit less than 3 months away.... I am thinking that this year I am going to try to keep a bit better informed and if I cannot attend information meetings, I am going to try to find out what is and who doing what, when, where and how...
In my city, Abbotsford, BC there have been a number on ongoing problems that NEED a resolution, things that need to find a way for our government and citizens to stop chasing their tails like a young dog who is not quite sure what that fluffy thing is just out of reach....
Now, as I was taught many years ago, I do not plan to announce or advertise my position on any of the points that will soon be appearing for local people to think on and vote on come November 15, because I am not running for a position, nor I suspect will I agree with everything one person says over another...
But I am planning to PAY ATTENTION and make a decision and show up on Voting Day... I am hoping to learn much about my city and maybe about the people who are putting their names forward to attempt to win a position on our city council and hopefully who are accepting the responsibility that their decisions will be affecting many lives as they serve our city for the next 3 years...
** all photos that appear in this posting are taken by ME around ABBOTSFORD, BC during different seasons, doing different things.***
Friday, August 29, 2014
Household Sciences -- Meat Cuts and their Uses
In today's supermarkets the Meat counter and display cases are quite different than 50 years ago. Often if you bought your meat from a grocer or a butcher you would ask for the 'cut' of meat that you want and if you were not sure what to do with it the Man at the counter would often be able to tell you the best way to cook the piece that you have bought.
Now, stores do not provide the information that many of us could use when first starting up our own household. When I was first married, there was still much that my Mother had not taught me about cooking so one of the early meals I provided for my new husband was quite a disaster!
I bought a chicken to roast for us to celebrate our 1 month anniversary. Now I had no problem cooking some potatoes and mashing them adding a bit of butter and milk and salt and pepper to make very smooth mashed potatoes. Warming up a can of corn was pretty basic as it was just, well, warming up the corn in a small pot on the stove....
But the chicken... I am not sure why I had not up to that point in life learned anything about cooking meat. I bought the chicken from the local grocery store, washed it, put it in a small roaster pan that had been a wedding shower gift and popped it in the oven for 4 hours.... Yeah, 4 hours! This was alot of years ago, so I cannot remember if I took the time to baste the chicken or even if I checked how it was cooking in that time... It actually looked very nice when it came out of the oven and I put it on a serving plate. In my childhood home, my father always took on the task of carving the roast, whether chicken, or beef or pork or whatever else might be on the dinner table, so I handed the knife to my new husband and even though he said he had not done it before I explained the way I could remember my Dad doing the job.
Knife and big fork in hand my husband tried to saw through that chicken.... And he sawed, and sawed and sawed... it sort of crumbled like dried out bread, it definately did not slice at all! Good thing we were young and in love cause that chicken was obviously not at all edible. Laughter and even the refusal of our cat to eat that Roast Chicken is still a funny memory between me and my Hubby.
It took me awhile to learn why -- I did not dare to ask my mother what might have gone wrong with that roast because my mother tended to use mistakes as a way to make fun that was not funny and if she knew of it, the story would have haunted me for years.... So I had to figure out what happened for myself.... I soon after discovered the first big error with that chicken was that I bought a "stewing hen". Next was that roasting it for 4 hours just toughened the already tough meat. What a way to learn about cooking! But I must say I did learn that lesson very well! I don't think I ever had the same knack of roasting a chicken or a turkey as well as my mother, but then I did not have the advantage of taking a Household Sciences course as an extra choice in my school years. Yes, we had Home Ec, but the detail in our cooking classes never included the details needed to understand MEAT.
In my Mother's Household Sciences Textbook are a couple of pages that are rarely explained or shown to new home cooks...
These two pages explain quite clearly where certain 'cuts' of meat come from on an animal. A more modern and a very detailed explanation of what to look for in your supermarket when you shop for beef can be found at the following links...
Now, stores do not provide the information that many of us could use when first starting up our own household. When I was first married, there was still much that my Mother had not taught me about cooking so one of the early meals I provided for my new husband was quite a disaster!
I bought a chicken to roast for us to celebrate our 1 month anniversary. Now I had no problem cooking some potatoes and mashing them adding a bit of butter and milk and salt and pepper to make very smooth mashed potatoes. Warming up a can of corn was pretty basic as it was just, well, warming up the corn in a small pot on the stove....
But the chicken... I am not sure why I had not up to that point in life learned anything about cooking meat. I bought the chicken from the local grocery store, washed it, put it in a small roaster pan that had been a wedding shower gift and popped it in the oven for 4 hours.... Yeah, 4 hours! This was alot of years ago, so I cannot remember if I took the time to baste the chicken or even if I checked how it was cooking in that time... It actually looked very nice when it came out of the oven and I put it on a serving plate. In my childhood home, my father always took on the task of carving the roast, whether chicken, or beef or pork or whatever else might be on the dinner table, so I handed the knife to my new husband and even though he said he had not done it before I explained the way I could remember my Dad doing the job.
(this is not the chicken I cooked - it is a photo from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Book - 2009 which is beautifully illustrated and excellent explanations for good family meals)
Knife and big fork in hand my husband tried to saw through that chicken.... And he sawed, and sawed and sawed... it sort of crumbled like dried out bread, it definately did not slice at all! Good thing we were young and in love cause that chicken was obviously not at all edible. Laughter and even the refusal of our cat to eat that Roast Chicken is still a funny memory between me and my Hubby.
It took me awhile to learn why -- I did not dare to ask my mother what might have gone wrong with that roast because my mother tended to use mistakes as a way to make fun that was not funny and if she knew of it, the story would have haunted me for years.... So I had to figure out what happened for myself.... I soon after discovered the first big error with that chicken was that I bought a "stewing hen". Next was that roasting it for 4 hours just toughened the already tough meat. What a way to learn about cooking! But I must say I did learn that lesson very well! I don't think I ever had the same knack of roasting a chicken or a turkey as well as my mother, but then I did not have the advantage of taking a Household Sciences course as an extra choice in my school years. Yes, we had Home Ec, but the detail in our cooking classes never included the details needed to understand MEAT.
In my Mother's Household Sciences Textbook are a couple of pages that are rarely explained or shown to new home cooks...
These two pages explain quite clearly where certain 'cuts' of meat come from on an animal. A more modern and a very detailed explanation of what to look for in your supermarket when you shop for beef can be found at the following links...
and for chicken or turkey...
There are alot of wonderful sources of information on the internet when it comes to understanding cooking and choosing meat. It is to a home cook's advantage to learn about how and what methods to cook various cuts.
I also want to point out that the FOOD NETWORK and most of the shows they feature DO NOT give instruction on choice of ingredients. If you discover an idea from one of the celebrity chefs it is a good idea to research the recipe and methods of cooking by going to that chef's web page...
Have fun with your adventure in home cooking because everytime you try something new you learn so many things about what it is to be a home cook!
Oh and PS, don't fall for that current trend -- Restaurant Quality - Home Cooked Meals are so much more satisfying because YOU did it and it tastes GREAT!
Oh and PS, don't fall for that current trend -- Restaurant Quality - Home Cooked Meals are so much more satisfying because YOU did it and it tastes GREAT!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Embroidery
One of my "collections" is embroidery transfers or iron on embroidery designs. These were quite common 40 and 50 years ago. For a time there were a few companies that promoted and sold tube "paints" to use with embroidery patterns and they were very popular with young women who wanted a touch of hand made in their homes but didn't have the time to actually use thread and needle to create embroidered towels, pillow cases and monograms on special items...
So I thought I would pick out a few of these designs just as inspiration. They probably were fairly common designs in their "hey day" but not so much now...
Here are a few that probably were meant to be embroidered on crisp white kitchen curtains or maybe special dish towels...
So I thought I would pick out a few of these designs just as inspiration. They probably were fairly common designs in their "hey day" but not so much now...
Here are a few that probably were meant to be embroidered on crisp white kitchen curtains or maybe special dish towels...
The nature of these transfers over time seems to be that adjacent or printing on previous pages seems to 'bleed' through the paper. So these pictures show that 'bleed' through. Also because they were meant to be ironed onto fabric they were printed 'backwards' so that when placed face down on fabric they would transfer in the mirror image or right way.
Oh and by the way, these are not for sale because I have no idea if they might be under copyright or even who that copyright might belong to. I am simply posting them for 'inspiration'
I may be going through my collections and perhaps will add a few more of these designs in the next few weeks....
Check back if this sort of thing is of interest to you....
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Floral Mandala -- a Crochet Motif
Lately I have been seeing a interesting change to DOILIES on some of the social sites such as Pinterest and on various blogs...
I wonder who thought to take the idea of lacy doilies from fine thread crochet to using bright yarns -- mostly the cottons such as handicrafter yarn by bernat; lion brand's kitchen cotton and Lily Sugar and Cream, or other bright cheery yarns.
Take a look at this Pinterest board to get an idea of the variety and perhaps find a link to make your own. I am not sure exactly what anyone really uses these very pretty bits of art for or where you would put it once it is finished...
I wonder who thought to take the idea of lacy doilies from fine thread crochet to using bright yarns -- mostly the cottons such as handicrafter yarn by bernat; lion brand's kitchen cotton and Lily Sugar and Cream, or other bright cheery yarns.
Take a look at this Pinterest board to get an idea of the variety and perhaps find a link to make your own. I am not sure exactly what anyone really uses these very pretty bits of art for or where you would put it once it is finished...
Recently I was in one of my local second hand stores and hiding in a corner was a stack of Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet Magazines. These publications stopped producing magazines about 10 years ago but now and then you can find a few if you really look and are alert for them.
I suspect that they stopped printing these because, well, who uses Doilies anymore? So if no one uses them, surely no one would be making them.
But somebody had the bright idea to make these doilies into the Modern world and made them into little works of art...
Well, my version as I said is a motif pattern from Decorative Crochet Magazine and I must say, I am very pleased with how it has turned out.
This particular pattern comes from January 1989 and originally was meant as a motif in a table runner. If you use the regular crochet cotton, it should be about 6.5 inches and when you join 36 of them together they make a nice size table runner... But using various colors of the 'kitchen cottons' the one I made measures 12 inches across...
I had actually started one previous to this one but I started with that blue then a dark navy blue but somehow the colors were not working that well so I began again and this is what happened.... My niece suggested beginning with red and white, so I did and I think it is an immense improvement over my first try at this idea, but, then again, doing the next round in red, or maybe pink then white, just might work.
Hmmm.... now I have talked myself into trying out some more rounds on this one to see what happens!
I was thinking that it might be nice to provide the instructions here, but after a bit of reading, I do believe that this particular pattern would be copyrighted. The author of this design tho is Colette Beiline and as I said it can be found in Decorative Crochet Magazine January 1989 -- or I have listed that particular issue in my Etsy store (but there is ONLY one copy).
I wonder if these mandala's would be something people would buy? Perhaps I will test out a few in my store in the next few days and see what happens....
So really if you might be thinking that you could make one for yourself, take a look at some of those 'olden days' crochet doilies and bring them into the modern world with COLOR!
That is one of the most fun things about crochet -- the experimenting just to see how it might turn out if you just change a little thing...
Saturday, August 23, 2014
A Long Journey Begins with the First Step...
I was thinking about shutting down my blog. Surprisingly, I had some very interesting comments that there are people who want to read what I say!
I mostly write because I like to write about the stuff I think about and I think about some pretty wild stuff that I never write about. If I wrote all that I thought, people would definately wonder how any person could think the way I do, so I try to be as 'normal' as I can.
One of the things I noticed even as a child that some of the things I wondered about and asked questions about were not usual, many things I said were "out of the blue" and I know that some family members may even have questioned my sanity! My mind will follow and explore any new tangent it is set upon...
There is a great advantage to being an odd thinker -- it is not that I am smarter than anyone else, in fact I know I am not, but I am always willing to listen and think about things and I form an opinion (much of them I keep to myself) but that opinion can change with new and improved information.
Now, after having said all that I am thinking about Food. A few weeks back I decided to write about Food on Friday's. I missed my POV (point of view) on food yesterday because I was not feeling at all well.
For about 5 years now, I have been slowly discovering that my 'innards' have become quite sensitive to certain things. For almost all of that time I thought that food was upsetting my system because of bacteria or not washing fruit properly or not cooking things thoroughly. I thought my upset system was my own fault! Or maybe my husband trying to find a way to get rid of me?! (thats a joke--well, it is one of the odd things I wonder about!)
Five years ago, my doctor with the help of some other doctors came to the conclusion that I had/have acute ulcerative colitis, but they only ever said maybe... Maybe it is diverticulitis... Maybe it is Cancer.... They never found anything after digging around in my colon and giving me a variety of tests and as my system slowly healed itself, they never came to a conclusion. There was and still is something wrong though.
As I said, I was feeling quite miserable yesterday and that carried through all night so I was awake and back and forth to the toilet about a hundred times. It was a painful and "feel sorry for yourself" night with a little bright spot of working on a couple of projects, knitting a dishcloth and then making a crochet mat in dishcloth yarn...
Now, Lately I have really been questioning my diet and the diet that my family eats and has eaten for many, many years. You know what you are supposed to eat to stay healthy, I know, or thought I knew what I should eat to be healthy. Well, you think you know, anyway. Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Carbohydrates, lots of water - and don't forget FIBER. Some people even pay for meetings to organizations that will help keep you on track and teach you portion sizes and what your food choices should be. I tried that, but still I had problems and I did not loose weight because what was good for "everyone" was not at all good for me. Alot of what I was told was good for me, turned out to be NOT so good, but no one else ever really noticed because they did not spend the hours I did sitting in a little room staring at a wall and hoping there was toilet paper within reach!
I think I took my first step while I was suffering though yesterday and last night's misery. A "light bulb" went off! I am now beginning to believe that this pain and suffering was not my fault other than not realizing what was happening to me and not correctly connecting it to the actual food I was eating and how foods that should be good for me actually were NOT!
A few days back I read about a study done of how Doctor's often diagnose maladies... Not all doctors, but the study said as much as 50% of doctors will look to the internet and wikipedia for answers! Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes and when I told my doctor that I was learning alot about it by reading the internet he said that I should be careful about what I read there. So I stopped researching medical stuff online.... But HEY! if there are doctors using online research to answer questions from patients, why am i not doing it myself and getting the information direct, instead of translated and condensed.
So I started reading a variety of articles on intestinal problems, all sorts of information, starting with what these doctors said I MAY have -- Well, I don't have what they said! I do believe I am one of thousands, or millions who have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome....
This comes as somewhat of a revelation because so much of what I have experienced is described in how to look after a system that just doesn't treat food as it should be when it goes through the digestive process...
Blueberries, grapes, cherries, an apple a day! Foods that are anti oxidents and have lots of good things including vitamins and fiber. NOT FOR ME!
One article I read said "that most people are unaware that there are two kinds of fiber" SOLUBLE and INSOLUBLE. I definately was not aware that the difference for me could be immense!
So, I spent yesterday and last night suffering because of BLUEBERRIES!!! Yes, healthy, good for you, tasty blueberries. I did not eat more of them than any other person would have eaten, but they are poison to me -- and now as I review some of the other things that I eat on a regular basis, believing that it is good health giving foods, it turns out, they are not. Some of the "good for you" foods are damaging me!
Whole wheat bread, nope - insoluble fiber -- I should eat white bread! or oat bread because oat fiber is soluble and wheat fiber is not (and it is not that i should be gluten free, because that is definately not a problem in my system)
Lots of fruit and vegetables, nope - again insoluble fiber -- doing without veggies is practically impossible so cooking is a good option because it breaks down the fiber that my system has a problem with... Which means that fruits and veg that are normally eaten raw are not particularly good for me -- time to cut out blueberries, but blueberry jam should be okay - do you think?
Oh, and no salads with or instead of a cooked meal! And I thought it was Wendy's (burger place) not safely preparing those delicious salads that taste great going down but cause immeasurable pain coming back out! It is my system, not their food prep...
Well, since this has only been the first step, I have a huge amount to learn yet and I surely will not pretend to know much about it, except what I have learned that makes me suffer.... blueberries, miserable nasty blueberries; rice cakes, popcorn, high fiber cereals, lettuce, cabbage --- OMG I know lettuce is at least as nasty as blueberries! I am learning, slowly....
And I am still trying to learn about my son's diet needs too, so that he does not have to suffer a bout of kidney stones again... Whew! I never imagined food could be so complicated....
I don't think I will stop writing this blog. There are too many things to still learn about and if what I write about helps me, maybe it can give you an idea or two to explore and expand upon and learn about along with me....
Next time.... Pictures and less seriousness.... How about crochet? And not nearly as long!
I mostly write because I like to write about the stuff I think about and I think about some pretty wild stuff that I never write about. If I wrote all that I thought, people would definately wonder how any person could think the way I do, so I try to be as 'normal' as I can.
One of the things I noticed even as a child that some of the things I wondered about and asked questions about were not usual, many things I said were "out of the blue" and I know that some family members may even have questioned my sanity! My mind will follow and explore any new tangent it is set upon...
There is a great advantage to being an odd thinker -- it is not that I am smarter than anyone else, in fact I know I am not, but I am always willing to listen and think about things and I form an opinion (much of them I keep to myself) but that opinion can change with new and improved information.
Now, after having said all that I am thinking about Food. A few weeks back I decided to write about Food on Friday's. I missed my POV (point of view) on food yesterday because I was not feeling at all well.
For about 5 years now, I have been slowly discovering that my 'innards' have become quite sensitive to certain things. For almost all of that time I thought that food was upsetting my system because of bacteria or not washing fruit properly or not cooking things thoroughly. I thought my upset system was my own fault! Or maybe my husband trying to find a way to get rid of me?! (thats a joke--well, it is one of the odd things I wonder about!)
Five years ago, my doctor with the help of some other doctors came to the conclusion that I had/have acute ulcerative colitis, but they only ever said maybe... Maybe it is diverticulitis... Maybe it is Cancer.... They never found anything after digging around in my colon and giving me a variety of tests and as my system slowly healed itself, they never came to a conclusion. There was and still is something wrong though.
As I said, I was feeling quite miserable yesterday and that carried through all night so I was awake and back and forth to the toilet about a hundred times. It was a painful and "feel sorry for yourself" night with a little bright spot of working on a couple of projects, knitting a dishcloth and then making a crochet mat in dishcloth yarn...
Now, Lately I have really been questioning my diet and the diet that my family eats and has eaten for many, many years. You know what you are supposed to eat to stay healthy, I know, or thought I knew what I should eat to be healthy. Well, you think you know, anyway. Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Carbohydrates, lots of water - and don't forget FIBER. Some people even pay for meetings to organizations that will help keep you on track and teach you portion sizes and what your food choices should be. I tried that, but still I had problems and I did not loose weight because what was good for "everyone" was not at all good for me. Alot of what I was told was good for me, turned out to be NOT so good, but no one else ever really noticed because they did not spend the hours I did sitting in a little room staring at a wall and hoping there was toilet paper within reach!
I think I took my first step while I was suffering though yesterday and last night's misery. A "light bulb" went off! I am now beginning to believe that this pain and suffering was not my fault other than not realizing what was happening to me and not correctly connecting it to the actual food I was eating and how foods that should be good for me actually were NOT!
A few days back I read about a study done of how Doctor's often diagnose maladies... Not all doctors, but the study said as much as 50% of doctors will look to the internet and wikipedia for answers! Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes and when I told my doctor that I was learning alot about it by reading the internet he said that I should be careful about what I read there. So I stopped researching medical stuff online.... But HEY! if there are doctors using online research to answer questions from patients, why am i not doing it myself and getting the information direct, instead of translated and condensed.
So I started reading a variety of articles on intestinal problems, all sorts of information, starting with what these doctors said I MAY have -- Well, I don't have what they said! I do believe I am one of thousands, or millions who have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome....
This comes as somewhat of a revelation because so much of what I have experienced is described in how to look after a system that just doesn't treat food as it should be when it goes through the digestive process...
Blueberries, grapes, cherries, an apple a day! Foods that are anti oxidents and have lots of good things including vitamins and fiber. NOT FOR ME!
One article I read said "that most people are unaware that there are two kinds of fiber" SOLUBLE and INSOLUBLE. I definately was not aware that the difference for me could be immense!
So, I spent yesterday and last night suffering because of BLUEBERRIES!!! Yes, healthy, good for you, tasty blueberries. I did not eat more of them than any other person would have eaten, but they are poison to me -- and now as I review some of the other things that I eat on a regular basis, believing that it is good health giving foods, it turns out, they are not. Some of the "good for you" foods are damaging me!
Whole wheat bread, nope - insoluble fiber -- I should eat white bread! or oat bread because oat fiber is soluble and wheat fiber is not (and it is not that i should be gluten free, because that is definately not a problem in my system)
Lots of fruit and vegetables, nope - again insoluble fiber -- doing without veggies is practically impossible so cooking is a good option because it breaks down the fiber that my system has a problem with... Which means that fruits and veg that are normally eaten raw are not particularly good for me -- time to cut out blueberries, but blueberry jam should be okay - do you think?
Oh, and no salads with or instead of a cooked meal! And I thought it was Wendy's (burger place) not safely preparing those delicious salads that taste great going down but cause immeasurable pain coming back out! It is my system, not their food prep...
Well, since this has only been the first step, I have a huge amount to learn yet and I surely will not pretend to know much about it, except what I have learned that makes me suffer.... blueberries, miserable nasty blueberries; rice cakes, popcorn, high fiber cereals, lettuce, cabbage --- OMG I know lettuce is at least as nasty as blueberries! I am learning, slowly....
And I am still trying to learn about my son's diet needs too, so that he does not have to suffer a bout of kidney stones again... Whew! I never imagined food could be so complicated....
I don't think I will stop writing this blog. There are too many things to still learn about and if what I write about helps me, maybe it can give you an idea or two to explore and expand upon and learn about along with me....
Next time.... Pictures and less seriousness.... How about crochet? And not nearly as long!
Friday, August 15, 2014
The Advantage of even the Smallest Garden
I don't have alot of space in my yard -- in fact, my yard is not much larger than my living room!
I have never really lived in a house or a place where I could plant rows of peas and beans and corn and carrots so over many years I have made some choices of plants that are usually successful in containers and that I LIKE!
I plant geraniums every year now. They are bright and grow so quickly and thickly they often overflow the sides of the containers they are planted in. I always plant red ones. My mother loved RED geraniums and even though I started to grow geraniums each year as a memorial to her, I have grown to enjoy and love them at least as much as she did!
I have never really lived in a house or a place where I could plant rows of peas and beans and corn and carrots so over many years I have made some choices of plants that are usually successful in containers and that I LIKE!
I plant geraniums every year now. They are bright and grow so quickly and thickly they often overflow the sides of the containers they are planted in. I always plant red ones. My mother loved RED geraniums and even though I started to grow geraniums each year as a memorial to her, I have grown to enjoy and love them at least as much as she did!
I usually choose one or two herbs to put in my little patio deck garden -- this year -- THYME (that's it in the center of the above photo--one starter plant of thyme has overgrown the ageratum-that should look like the photo below but doesn't)
With such an abundance of THYME I am using it in all kinds of foods I have been cooking.
I am a cook who doesn't really follow recipes. I often look at a recipe in a book and "wing-it" without referring to the recipe again...
I actually heard Chef Micheal Smith (on his show Chef at Home) say that when you have a recipe in mind but add your own touches you then discover some "family favourites" that may even become those 'secret' recipes that other people ask you for!
Well, I can't say I get asked for my secret recipes but I can say I have come up with a Family Favourite. Thyme is a very important part of this little story because without it, the recipe just becomes beans in spaghetti sauce (or something like that)
Lentils and Vegetable Cassarole
1 small onion, chopped up fine
3 nice nice size carrots, chopped up as small as you can
1 can (store label) 540 ml or 19 oz lentils, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup white or brown rice - whichever you prefer
1/2 or more of a good size green pepper - i only had a half so that is what went in
2 cups homemade or low sodium chicken broth
1 - 398 ml or 15 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
and
quite a bit of fresh thyme -- hard to measure cause I just took leaves off the stems til I got tired of doing it!
1 garlic clove, crushed or chopped up really fine
In a 1 1/2 quart size baking dish that has been well greased or sprayed with a cooking oil spray, mix together all the ingredients. Very Easy Procedure!
Put the casserole/baking dish in the oven that was preheated to 350F for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
If you want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h this recipe a bit you can add a couple stalks of celery, chopped up fine and/or a zucchini chopped.
Because salt is often in purchased chicken broth and in my homemade broth I do not add salt to this dish but I let each person know that if they wish a sprinkle of salt and pepper on their own serving is perhaps an option...
Also because we have a "cheese fiend" in my house, I grate about a cup of whatever cheese is handy and top each serving with a bit of cheese. I particularly like mozzarella and a bit of Parmesan, my son prefers good ole` chedder and my husband prefers none.
There were no comments or complaints that this main dish was meatless -- maybe they didn't even notice?! There was about 1/4 of the total left over and all plates came back clean, so by that standard this was a HIT!
and a few strawberries and ice cream for dessert...
(can you find the dinosaur?)
I now need to explore some more recipes and ideas to use with my over abundance of THYME....
and if you try out this recipe, just tell people you invented it!
Friday, August 8, 2014
Emergency!
Yes, we had to visit the Emergency at our Local Hospital this week... Well, not we, my younger son, who is about to turn 36....
He has his own suite as part of our home and on Monday morning about 4am, he came and woke me out of a lovely sleep and said there was something wrong... Deep, nasty pain in his lower back and left side. Hmmm.... Appendix? He said he had been in pain since about 2am and couldn't wait any longer. So we got dressed and his father and I drove him to the Emergency....
Now of course he is old enough to get himself on whatever list to wait for a Doc to see him and evaluate what the problem was... We sat with him for awhile and then decided that $4 an hour to park was pretty costly for us to just sit, so we left him waiting in Emergency with of course his cell phone to call us if needed or to play games or other stuff while he waited. We went home.
It's not very exciting waiting in Emergency and at home I can be much more productive doing crochet or working on my Etsy Store. I finally gave him a call around 10am but had to leave a message cause he wasn't answering -- I wondered, maybe we should go back to the Hospital but as I was trying to decide to do something or wait, the phone rang and he said to come pick him up.... We did.
He was not quite 'there' (drugs for the pain) and he said the doc put him on a list for an emergency CAT scan and they would call him when to come back --- they suspected Kidney Stones.
Whew! and OH OH...
At least with that news I had a focus -- you know how MOMS are, right? Even if you can't do anything about it, you have to find something to do to fix the problem....
Research. First what are kidney stones, how do you get them, how do you fix them, how do you prevent them ???? Kept me busy the rest of the day reading web pages and learning about them. And I did learn some of what I can do to fix the problem -- Food.
More things to learn!
He has his own suite as part of our home and on Monday morning about 4am, he came and woke me out of a lovely sleep and said there was something wrong... Deep, nasty pain in his lower back and left side. Hmmm.... Appendix? He said he had been in pain since about 2am and couldn't wait any longer. So we got dressed and his father and I drove him to the Emergency....
Now of course he is old enough to get himself on whatever list to wait for a Doc to see him and evaluate what the problem was... We sat with him for awhile and then decided that $4 an hour to park was pretty costly for us to just sit, so we left him waiting in Emergency with of course his cell phone to call us if needed or to play games or other stuff while he waited. We went home.
It's not very exciting waiting in Emergency and at home I can be much more productive doing crochet or working on my Etsy Store. I finally gave him a call around 10am but had to leave a message cause he wasn't answering -- I wondered, maybe we should go back to the Hospital but as I was trying to decide to do something or wait, the phone rang and he said to come pick him up.... We did.
He was not quite 'there' (drugs for the pain) and he said the doc put him on a list for an emergency CAT scan and they would call him when to come back --- they suspected Kidney Stones.
Whew! and OH OH...
At least with that news I had a focus -- you know how MOMS are, right? Even if you can't do anything about it, you have to find something to do to fix the problem....
Research. First what are kidney stones, how do you get them, how do you fix them, how do you prevent them ???? Kept me busy the rest of the day reading web pages and learning about them. And I did learn some of what I can do to fix the problem -- Food.
More things to learn!
A change in much of my son's diet is needed to prevent a recurrence -- which the doc says is quite likely once a person has had kidney stones once, so since One Person is as important as All in this Family, we are all going to work on making a few changes...
I am not going to give you hours of details of the things I learned about kidney stones except to say the DIET part means Less Meat, Less Salt, Less Tea or Coffee, Less Saturated Fats, Less Sugar -- Sort of sounds like the kind of DIET that is and has been touted by doctors and dietitians of what everyone should be eating...
My first step though in Dietary Changes has to be finding ways to reduce Meat. The men in this house eat meat practically for every meal -- so finding alternatives is fairly tricky... Beans seems to be the main alternative.
So the day after the big EMERGENCY, I thought I would head on over to some of the local 2nd hand stores to see if I could find some recipe books to give me some insight into cooking with beans...
I found a few good deals with a stack of Taste of Home magazines for Light Cooking, each one 25 cents, and a Company's Coming Low Fat Cooking by Jean Pare`. I took some time digging through a few of the recipes that I had collected in various note books of my own or cut out of the newspaper...
The really difficult part of a change in Diet is that as of now, the Kidney stones have passed out of his system and with no pain now, the inclination to change is somewhat lost and fading fast...
I am thinking that this really is one of the important parts of being THE MOM in a family, to keep the change that is necessary ON TRACK!
Yeah, they are grown-ups and can think for themselves but (and I guess I cannot say it out loud with 'the men' present) they expect the MOM to take care of stuff like this. I sure don't see my son checking out recipes and looking up the whats or the wherefores of this event...
This Friday really is about huge changes in Food! If you have ideas or experience, leave me a comment! I can use every bit of info that comes my way....
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Always... back to Tradition...
There are some pretty interesting crochet designs available and now so many sources to find them, books, magazines, and many company sites such as Lion Brand offer a slew of FREE designs. It is alot like quiltmaking, there is the MODERN versions and then there is the Traditional patterns.
A couple of months ago I loved making the Boteh Scarf (such a modern design!) and showed my progress of the project here. One of the things I like to do when I discover a pattern or a design that I like is to try it with different weights or types of yarns. I made one Boteh Scarf out of a very nice superwash wool, another with a sock yarn, and still another with a cotton yarn -- it is not quite done yet, tho.
Recently I received a handful of skeins of 100% wool, labeled Tapestry Yarn. Not really enough to do anything with, unless I had a Tapestry project to do, and that is not really one of my crafty areas of interest. So those skeins - each one only 15 yards long - sat in a drawer.
A couple of months ago I loved making the Boteh Scarf (such a modern design!) and showed my progress of the project here. One of the things I like to do when I discover a pattern or a design that I like is to try it with different weights or types of yarns. I made one Boteh Scarf out of a very nice superwash wool, another with a sock yarn, and still another with a cotton yarn -- it is not quite done yet, tho.
Recently I received a handful of skeins of 100% wool, labeled Tapestry Yarn. Not really enough to do anything with, unless I had a Tapestry project to do, and that is not really one of my crafty areas of interest. So those skeins - each one only 15 yards long - sat in a drawer.
then last weekend I pulled out those skeins and wondered what they would look like if I used them to make small granny squares....
They reminded me of a granny square afghan that one of my parents friends always had on the back of her couch... Tiny Granny Squares with black surrounding every square. Traditional. No need for a pattern because I have made so many of the plain ole` regular granny square that it is ingrained in my crochet knowledge. Each of these squares are about 3 inches square -- it will take hundreds to make a lap size afghan... But I have started and will continue it because....
in a stop off at the second hand store, I found dozens more of these little skeins of yarn! I did pay $10 for 96 of these skeins, but I suspect that they cost much, much more when they were purchased new. I am not sure how many Granny Squares I will be able to make from this bunch, but, a few at a time and there is no rush... I am going to enjoy the process of creating this Granny Square Afghan and I know I will LOVE having a Wool Traditional Afghan made from them to show off on the back of my couch or draped over the arm of a chair... This is going to be Special, I just know it!
My other project that is in progress is a sweater for ME. From a free pattern (which I can't find now! oh oh) It is a top down sweater that is well on its way to completion. I am pleased with the fit and the drape of it. I am using Loops and Threads Soft and Shiny (from Michael's) and like the feel, though it seems to be getting just a bit heavy for a sweater.... Hopefully that means it will be cozy!
About 15 more rows for length and then to start on the arms. I will have to look through my treasure trove of buttons to find 8 or 10 buttons to suit this sweater.
Is Summer the time for Yarn deals at the 2nd hand store? It sure seems to be worth a look lately! Stock up for Fall and Winter projects now! I sure have been finding useful things lately...
Friday, August 1, 2014
Household Sciences - 1949 part 2
Today's world offers us so very many conveniences and short cuts. We get used to those short cuts and sometimes don't even realize that there is something missing, which actually makes sense because when you take a short cut, you leave something out or cut corners to make it a quicker trip from one thing to another...
For a couple of bucks you can pick up a box of cake mix at the grocery store and once you are at home take 5 minutes to mix in some water and oil and bake for 1/2 an hour...
But, there is an amazing difference and texture in a home made from scratch cake! And you know, the thoughts of making this cake with my Mother's guidance is always a pleasant childhood memory, so not only is the taste of it special to me but it holds so many good time thoughts!
CAKE from Scratch...
Procedure for making cakes,
1. Collect utensils and ingredients
2. Prepare (turn on oven)
3. Prepare pans
4. Measure and sift dry ingredients, then measure liquids
5. Beat eggs
6. Combine ingredients
7. Place batter in pans and bake at once.
A few hints:
On combining ingredients - Cream fat (or butter) (which means to beat or mix until it is soft and creamy) before adding any other ingredients.
Add sugar and beat well until sugar is dissolved.
Beat eggs together and add gradually to the butter sugar mixture.
If you add the eggs to quickly the mixture may 'curdle'.
Add sifted dry ingredients alternatively with liquids and mix well after each addition. Do not beat mixture too much because it can make a tough of heavy cake, mix enough to combine.
If the recipe has called for beaten egg whites, fold or carefully mix in egg whites by lifting batter from botton of the bowl up and over the egg white, repeat this motion until the egg white is incorporated into the batter.
Test for Baked Doneness: The cake is done when it shrinks from the sides of the pan; when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake come out clean, or when you touch the top of the cake and it immediately springs back and does not leave a finger mark.
And here is the Cake recipe that I learned from this book with the help of my Mother, explaining each step. I became my family's official celebration cake baker.... That little chore in our home meant I baked everyone's birthday cakes and now and then my father would say, before he went to work in the morning that he thought " Today is an UnBirthday! We need to Celebrate" and that meant I should make a cake when I got home from school so we could share in it as after dinner treat! It did make me feel quite important!
" There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know" Lewis Carrol
Two Egg Cake
1/2 cup fat (butter or margarine)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs (of course!)
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups pastry flour, sifted
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream the fat, add the sugar. Beat egg yolks and add gradually to butter mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and add to the butter mixture alternatively with the milk. Stir to combine. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add vanilla to batter then add egg whites by folding into batter.
Pour batter into a 9"x9" cake pan that has been carefully greased before hand and place into oven at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes.
This is a very basic cake recipe, but as I became more proficient at this "ART" I learned to add a few variations. A combination of 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger and nutmeg would make a mildly spiced cake, that always went wonderfully well with ice cream. Or adding about 1/4 cup cocoa powder and a extra few tablespoons of sugar made for a nice chocolate cake, especially if I was allowed to make chocolate icing (butter, icing sugar, and cocoa powder)
And back to Modern Times....
Here is a link to How to make a Cake from scratch... It doesn't have the recipe, but explains very well the procedure...
I haven't given you any lucious photos of cakes or even photos of in progress making of cakes, cause I just don't have one of my own right now and I really don't want to put up someone elses photos.... So like the book that my Mom studied her Household Sciences from, there are no photos today!
For a couple of bucks you can pick up a box of cake mix at the grocery store and once you are at home take 5 minutes to mix in some water and oil and bake for 1/2 an hour...
But, there is an amazing difference and texture in a home made from scratch cake! And you know, the thoughts of making this cake with my Mother's guidance is always a pleasant childhood memory, so not only is the taste of it special to me but it holds so many good time thoughts!
CAKE from Scratch...
Procedure for making cakes,
1. Collect utensils and ingredients
2. Prepare (turn on oven)
3. Prepare pans
4. Measure and sift dry ingredients, then measure liquids
5. Beat eggs
6. Combine ingredients
7. Place batter in pans and bake at once.
A few hints:
On combining ingredients - Cream fat (or butter) (which means to beat or mix until it is soft and creamy) before adding any other ingredients.
Add sugar and beat well until sugar is dissolved.
Beat eggs together and add gradually to the butter sugar mixture.
If you add the eggs to quickly the mixture may 'curdle'.
Add sifted dry ingredients alternatively with liquids and mix well after each addition. Do not beat mixture too much because it can make a tough of heavy cake, mix enough to combine.
If the recipe has called for beaten egg whites, fold or carefully mix in egg whites by lifting batter from botton of the bowl up and over the egg white, repeat this motion until the egg white is incorporated into the batter.
Test for Baked Doneness: The cake is done when it shrinks from the sides of the pan; when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake come out clean, or when you touch the top of the cake and it immediately springs back and does not leave a finger mark.
And here is the Cake recipe that I learned from this book with the help of my Mother, explaining each step. I became my family's official celebration cake baker.... That little chore in our home meant I baked everyone's birthday cakes and now and then my father would say, before he went to work in the morning that he thought " Today is an UnBirthday! We need to Celebrate" and that meant I should make a cake when I got home from school so we could share in it as after dinner treat! It did make me feel quite important!
" There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know" Lewis Carrol
Two Egg Cake
1/2 cup fat (butter or margarine)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs (of course!)
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups pastry flour, sifted
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream the fat, add the sugar. Beat egg yolks and add gradually to butter mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and add to the butter mixture alternatively with the milk. Stir to combine. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add vanilla to batter then add egg whites by folding into batter.
Pour batter into a 9"x9" cake pan that has been carefully greased before hand and place into oven at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes.
This is a very basic cake recipe, but as I became more proficient at this "ART" I learned to add a few variations. A combination of 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger and nutmeg would make a mildly spiced cake, that always went wonderfully well with ice cream. Or adding about 1/4 cup cocoa powder and a extra few tablespoons of sugar made for a nice chocolate cake, especially if I was allowed to make chocolate icing (butter, icing sugar, and cocoa powder)
And back to Modern Times....
Here is a link to How to make a Cake from scratch... It doesn't have the recipe, but explains very well the procedure...
I haven't given you any lucious photos of cakes or even photos of in progress making of cakes, cause I just don't have one of my own right now and I really don't want to put up someone elses photos.... So like the book that my Mom studied her Household Sciences from, there are no photos today!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Blatantly Promoting My Etsy Store!
I am a Canadian Seller on Etsy.com who specializes in items that relate directly to what I write about on my blog. Quilting and Crochet - with I little bit to do with related crafts, like doll making, clothing sewing patterns and few odd bits like vintage sewing collectibles...
I am thinking that I should have alot more sales to Canadians but most of my products are going to the USA.
Now I must admit I have slight advantage over many Canadian Sellers when it comes to selling to USA customers. It is that I live within a few kilometers of a border crossing and I maintain a US postal box. I deal with customs myself to send items across the border so definately have a quick response to sales going to the south of me. How lucky am I?
My sister would be a great source of crochet supplies -- if I remember correctly she has a huge collection of self published crochet designer Elizabeth Hiddleson who's books go for a premium in online shops, but I cannot look to that collection for a source of product for my store! My sister loves her crochet and is very good at it so I am sure that she makes great use of her collection! Aw, well, I just keep looking and now and then come across a few things that a crocheter is in need of...
I am thinking that I should have alot more sales to Canadians but most of my products are going to the USA.
Now I must admit I have slight advantage over many Canadian Sellers when it comes to selling to USA customers. It is that I live within a few kilometers of a border crossing and I maintain a US postal box. I deal with customs myself to send items across the border so definately have a quick response to sales going to the south of me. How lucky am I?
Some of my favourite things to list on my store is Unique or Vintage Sewing Patterns. It does quite amaze me what people (in the case of the above pattern - I got a stash of patterns from a cousin's mother in law who was downsizing!) will have purchased and never quite got around to using. Some of the patterns are triggers to my own memories of sewing most of my own clothes for many years. I love to be reminded of those bell bottom pants of the early 1970's!
Buttons! Wow do I have Buttons for sale! A good portion of the buttons that I have acquired have come to me from collections from older relatives, some are still on the original card with a price like 29 cents! And from out of business stores like Woolworth's, and Eaton's.
Now, not all my products for sale come to me because a relative or friend wants to clear out a drawer and doesn't know where to get rid of these things, except to me, but I spend time going to garage sales on Saturday or stopping in at some of my local second hand stores to see if I can find a treasure or two to feature in my shop.
And a new category to my shop -- Quilting Cottons -- if you read my blog regularly you will know that I had my own yard/garage sale a couple weeks back. Well, there's still lots of fabric that I want to clear out of my closets and shelves so some of it I have started to list in my ETSY store....
Now, have I made you curious? You can look at my sidebar and see a quick selection of what I currently have listed in my shop and if something appeals to you, click on the icon and you will go directly to my shop.
Or
You could just come visit my whole shop, take a look around and perhaps if you don't find anything today, you might make note of my store online address and come visit on another day...
Come check out some of the things I have available at My Etsy Shop soon.
Oh, one other little thing I want to say -- this whole process of collecting and researching craft related items is a hobby in itself and I really love the process of collecting and passing along some of these special finds! I do have to admit tho, sometimes I will find an item that I just can't let go of! I have a weakness for old wooden spools of thread!
Friday, July 25, 2014
Friday is for Food -- The Simple Stuff part one
I am starting to think that businesses and food companies are trying to fool the eating population...
It seems to me that "THEY" are working at convincing us that it is easier and more convenient and 'good for you' to purchase a large super sweet exotic flavoured cup of coffee on your way to work each morning and that the price is well worth the time you save.... Hmmmm.... You know, one of the terms I hear often on the Food Network is 'restaurant quality' as if that is better than Home Made...
I have a French Press (just google it to see what sort of coffee maker that is and where you can get one) The French Press takes only the time it takes to boil some water in the kettle, and allow the coffee to steep while you make your toast, another 2 or 3 minutes, and pour your coffee and sit down at the table with your family before and instead of charging out the door to spend 20 minutes with your gas eating car idling in the lineup to pick up coffee and a donut...
I am thinking that some of us have forgotten (or perhaps never knew) the simple ways of food making...
I have a beat up and well used 'school manual' from my Mother. She learned the Household Sciences from this book in 1944 and 1945 while in grade 7 and 8 at Earl Grey School in Winnipeg, Manitoba!
For the next few Friday's I am going to give you some of the treasures from this book, and maybe convince you that HOMEMADE is often easier than going out to get a restaurant meal or to buy frozen processed entrees from the freezer section of the supermarket.
Now, if you look carefully at the pages that I scanned above, you might see the dates and places that my Mom carried this book through the years. I was going to continue the trend but I decided that this really was my Mom's book so other than a tiny note in the back of the book that says, given to Susan in June 1991 this book is all hers! I do remember though that the first thing she taught me to make was a recipe called Two Egg Cake from this book. I made that recipe many times as our family Birthday Cake!
So what can we learn from this book that will be useful today? If you have a request, leave a comment below...
It seems to me that "THEY" are working at convincing us that it is easier and more convenient and 'good for you' to purchase a large super sweet exotic flavoured cup of coffee on your way to work each morning and that the price is well worth the time you save.... Hmmmm.... You know, one of the terms I hear often on the Food Network is 'restaurant quality' as if that is better than Home Made...
I have a French Press (just google it to see what sort of coffee maker that is and where you can get one) The French Press takes only the time it takes to boil some water in the kettle, and allow the coffee to steep while you make your toast, another 2 or 3 minutes, and pour your coffee and sit down at the table with your family before and instead of charging out the door to spend 20 minutes with your gas eating car idling in the lineup to pick up coffee and a donut...
I am thinking that some of us have forgotten (or perhaps never knew) the simple ways of food making...
I have a beat up and well used 'school manual' from my Mother. She learned the Household Sciences from this book in 1944 and 1945 while in grade 7 and 8 at Earl Grey School in Winnipeg, Manitoba!
For the next few Friday's I am going to give you some of the treasures from this book, and maybe convince you that HOMEMADE is often easier than going out to get a restaurant meal or to buy frozen processed entrees from the freezer section of the supermarket.
Now, if you look carefully at the pages that I scanned above, you might see the dates and places that my Mom carried this book through the years. I was going to continue the trend but I decided that this really was my Mom's book so other than a tiny note in the back of the book that says, given to Susan in June 1991 this book is all hers! I do remember though that the first thing she taught me to make was a recipe called Two Egg Cake from this book. I made that recipe many times as our family Birthday Cake!
Not only did she use and reuse the instructions and hints and tips and recipes in this book, but occasionally she would add a recipe that she cut from the newspaper that she tended to use over and over again.
PS. See that fancy tape? And you thought WASHI Tape was a new thing! The recipes on this page were taped down using Christmas tape from the early 1960s...
Lets Start with Coffee and Tea... as the book states:
Rules for Making Coffee
Buy Freshly Roasted unground coffee.
Grind it at Home as needed
or
buy freshly ground coffee every two or three days in small amounts because coffee looses its flavour if it stands after being ground.
and the recipe for Boiled Coffee (and I bet you never heard of this one)
makes 2 cups
1 tablespoon ground coffee
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon crushed egg shell
a pinch of salt
2 cups boiling water
Mix coffee, salt and egg shell and add cold water to mix. Turn into scalded pot (that means water should be boiled in the pot then poured out) Then add 2 cups of boiling water to pot and boil gently for 5 minutes. Pour into a coffee or tea pot and allow to stand 3 minutes til grounds settle. Pour slowly and carefully into your guests cup then into your own cup.
PS. I have to admit I have not actually made coffee this way, but it would work well I think to pour the boiled coffee into the french press to serve.
Some of the other Treasures from this book that I would like to go through is "How to Set a Table for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner"
"Cuts of Meat and their uses"
"Uses for Stale Bread"
and way to many other things to explore that were important for the "lady of the house" to know in the 1940's but is also probably good to know in the 20teens...
So what can we learn from this book that will be useful today? If you have a request, leave a comment below...
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Exploring Tunisian Crochet -- Afghan Stitch
When I was in my early teen years, my grandmother taught me to crochet -- she gave me a crochet hook and three leftover balls of yarn from one of her projects.
Between times of seeing her, I practiced making crochet chains and single stitches, then learned double and triple crochet stitches. I thought I knew it all!
Then my grandmother brought me a afghan that she had made for me, but it looked alot different than the crochet that I had already learned. She said it was called an afghan stitch, but somehow she never got around to showing me, or perhaps because I was a teenager, I just never found the time to sit with her and take the time to learn and practice this 'new' idea.
And, even though I always found time through my young married and child rearing years to crochet various things from bags to sweaters to vests and scarves and hats, I just never got back to the idea of the 'afghan' stitch. I think perhaps part of it was that it required a special long hook and this thing called Tunisian Crochet was not particularly popular through the 1970's and 80's....
It was not until quite recently that I came to realize that Tunisian Crochet was what my gramma called the Afghan Stitch! Imagine that! Something Completely New (to me)....
Still today, I don't know alot of other people who crochet -- seems that knitting is what everyone is doing --- but I like crochet. My hands know crochet.
Between times of seeing her, I practiced making crochet chains and single stitches, then learned double and triple crochet stitches. I thought I knew it all!
Then my grandmother brought me a afghan that she had made for me, but it looked alot different than the crochet that I had already learned. She said it was called an afghan stitch, but somehow she never got around to showing me, or perhaps because I was a teenager, I just never found the time to sit with her and take the time to learn and practice this 'new' idea.
And, even though I always found time through my young married and child rearing years to crochet various things from bags to sweaters to vests and scarves and hats, I just never got back to the idea of the 'afghan' stitch. I think perhaps part of it was that it required a special long hook and this thing called Tunisian Crochet was not particularly popular through the 1970's and 80's....
It was not until quite recently that I came to realize that Tunisian Crochet was what my gramma called the Afghan Stitch! Imagine that! Something Completely New (to me)....
Still today, I don't know alot of other people who crochet -- seems that knitting is what everyone is doing --- but I like crochet. My hands know crochet.
A year or two ago I saw a lady working on a project using that extra long hook used for Tunisian Crochet -- that's when I learned it wasn't just called the Afghan Stitch, but that the whole category was 'Tunisian Crochet'... Then not too long after I just happened to come across a proper Tunisian Crochet hook at the 2nd hand store and thought "Why Not?"
So, now I have embarked on the learning process of this whole new category of crochet. I do like it! I am still in the practice and experimenting stages of it and have made nothing other than a scarf and a couple of test pieces...
the right side of my scarf - above - and a picture of the wrong or backside - below
My first foray into Tunisian Crochet is this Scarf. There is no pattern instructions because it is my practice piece, but through sheer chance the varigated yarn I chose to work with has done something a bit unusual for varigated yarns and I am VERY pleased with it!
So what I learned with this is...
(PS. video links for the stitches can be found by clicking on the highlighted text)
The yarn is Phentex Worsted that I bought a Michael's for just under 10 dollars
( 300 g skein)
I chained 26 and picked up 25 loops to start off the project. One of the things that bugged me about the afghan or Tunisian Simple Stitch was that it tends to curl up, so since my Gramma is no longer around to show me how, I resorted to You Tube where I found this video on how to do the Tunisian Purl Stitch. I must say it took a few watch throughs of the video to get the hang of it, but when I did the simple stitch for a row and the purl stitch for a row, I came up with an almost ribbed effect! I thought the two combined in alternate rows was a whole new world to my crochet!
Now, after some rows I noticed that one side of my piece was slightly different edge from the other.... hmmmm... Why?
So I went back to You Tube and decided to watch another video of the Tunisian Simple Stitch (Kim Guzman) and learned how to properly end the row that you pick up loops on. Now, not only did I pick up an interesting tip from the second video of the same stitch, but I learned that each video is just a little bit different and you learn different things from each!
Here is my practice piece on doing just the Tunisian Purl Stitch - the right side
and the wrong, or back side. The interesting thing about the purl stitch is that it seems to have alot more stretch than the simple stitch. I am not quite sure how to make use of this yet, but it does seem to me that for making a sweater or other clothing it might come in quite handy. The other thing about the purl stitch is that it doesn't curl like the simple stitch...
Oh and again, this piece is 25 stitches wide and that effect where the colours of the varigated yarn basically stayed put and caused 'waves' in the piece worked the same as doing the alternate rows of simple then purl -- I think if my tension was more exact the "waves" would not have such big ups and downs, so as I worked I purposely loosened and tightened my tension just a bit to give that effect.
I am still learning and practicing these basic stitches in Tunisian Crochet, but have checked out a few of the other videos on You Tube explaining what and how...
This is a whole new adventure! I am totally enjoying learning this new process, and perhaps as I progress I can revisit this Tunisian Crochet again on my blog to show you how I am 'getting along'!
I love to learn new things. How about you?
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