My Grandmother's Recipes

When I was little, I used to go to my grandmother's house for at least two weeks every summer. Gramma always asked me what I wanted her to cook for me. I had three things that were my favorites -- her Cranberry Bread, her "Mystery Cake" and her braised short ribs cooked in a pressure cooker. Every grandchild thinks their grandmother is the World's Best Cook. I was no exception. Today while cleaning out a cookbook cupboard, I found Gramma's handwritten cookbook. Two of the three recipes I loved are there, in her beautiful, formal handwriting, but minimal instructions. Unfortunately, the Braised Short Ribs isn't there. But here are Gramma's recipes for Cranberry Bread and "Mystery Cake". Cranberry Bread 1/4 cup shortening 2 cups flour - (she has a handwritten note that you can use 1/4 cup wheat germ and 1 3/4 cup flour - who knew Gramma was trying to cook more healthy?!) 1 cup sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 3/4 cup orange juice 1 tsp grated orange peel 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup cranberries (chopped) Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Combine peel, OJ and egg. Add to dry ingredients, mix. Add cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes, 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. Mystery Cake - Called this because if you told people what it really was - Tomato Soup Cake - they wouldn't eat it! Gramma made it, served it and THEN told people what was in it. Don't turn your nose up on this one - it is a truly flavorful, moist, dense cake! I actually prefer it without any kind of frosting, and treat it more like a Pumpkin Bread than a cake. Most people make Cream Cheese frosting to go with it. Some recipes call for chopped nuts, but we always preferred it without. 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp butter 1 can tomato soup 1 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup raisins 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp cloves Bake in (well-greased) loaf pan. 350 degrees. 40-50 minutes.

Scheduling my day

I always find that I have the most productive days when I schedule myself almost right down to the minute. I make my schedule for the day first thing every morning, and try to abide by that schedule all day long. It helps me from getting side-tracked (and from spending way too much time on the computer). Here's today's schedule: 6:00 - 7:30AM - Get up, shower, get dressed, make bed, feed cat and fish, check blogs 7:30-8:30 - Jeff's breakfast, pack his lunch, put in 1 load of laundry, sit down for breakfast 8:30 - 9:30 - Clean kitchen, clean out fridge, straighten food cabinets 9:30 - 10:30 - Blogs, email, web cruising 10:30 - 12:00 - Grocery shopping, library, put groceries away 12:00 - 1:00 - Start chili for dinner, computer time 1:00 - 2:00 - Vac downstairs, 1 load laundry, dust ceiling fan, good general pick up 2:00 - 5:30 - Quilting/sewing time 5:30 - 6:30 - Finish chili, make corn muffins 6:00 - 6:30 - Dinner 6:30 - 6:45 - Clean up kitchen 6:45 - 8:00 - Finish up all laundry, put away, plan day with Brayden tomorrow 8:00 - 10:00 - TV, work on hand sewing/embroidery 10:00 - 11:00 - Bath, reading, bed

Ohmygawd - you have got to go read this blog!

OK, blog surfing again this morning, and by pure luck stumbled on the FUNNIEST blog ever. An adult man posting the letters his over-protective mom writes to him. Hysterical! The Name of the Blog is Please Don't Eat Sushi - Love, Mom. Glad I wasn't drinking coffee because I'm SURE it would have come out my nose as I read this stuff! NOTE TO MY KIDS - See?? Told ja' I wasn't overprotective! Go read that blog so you can see the difference! LOL Every mom to adult kids needs to read this blog! You'll feel better about yourself. LOL

It's Toddler Tuesday

It's Toddler Tuesday! Time to share ideas of activities for Toddlers -- ages 2 to 4 years old. Whether you're a babysitter, grandma (like me), parent, sibling, daycare provider, aunt or nice neighbor, I hope you'll find some good ideas in this weekly post. If you have ideas to share, please post the idea on your blog, then leave a comment here. You're welcome to cut and paste the Toddler Tuesday banner to put on your blog. RAINY DAY / INSIDE ACTIVITIES Colder weather is settling in here in southwestern Ohio, and it reminds me of the upcoming months when my grandson, Brayden, and I will not be able to spend ninety percent of our days outside as we do now. So, time to gather up some ideas for inside activities! Animal Hide and Go Seek I've done this activity outside with Brayden, and I can't imagine why it wouldn't work just fine inside as well! I bought some very inexpensive plastic/rubber animals at a discount store -- I think there were about a dozen in the package. Before Brayden arrived in the morning, I hid six animals (in plain site) around the yard, then gave Brayden a bag and we went looking for wild animals! I told him there were "six wild animals", so when he found one, we would keep count (reinforcement of counting and numbers). When we do this activity in the house, I will contain it to one room or area -- if you get him wandering around the house, he'll lose focus on the activity before finding the animals! Pretend Veterinarian Help your child gather several stuffed animals. Pretend you are a pet owner with a sick or injured pet. Your child can examine and treat your pet. Additional props that make the pretend play more fun include a bathroom scale, a stethoscope, adhesive bandages and a dog leash. STOP and GO To Music Play various types of music (classical, rock and roll, polka, jazz, reggae, country western) and have your child move to the beat of the music. When the music stops, it's time to freeze. Start the music again and move and dance. Cooking Together I have "cooked" with Brayden several times now, and we both enjoy it. At this point, he is limited to "dumping" and stirring. Crockpot recipes work well for us -- lots of ingredients that I can cut and measure ahead of time. I try and have each ingredient measured and in it's own bowl or cup before he arrives in the morning. I put him on a stool at the kitchen counter, tell him what we're making, and describe each ingredient as I hand it to him to dump into the crockpot. He really enjoys it and enjoys smelling the food cooking throughout the day. (Though, bless his heart, he is a very picky eater and won't even taste his own cooking!) In the near future I plan on blowing the dust off my bread maker and teaching him about making bread. Any kind of cooking you can do that doesn't involve the stove or sharp knives is good! ================== A phrase I say when Brayden is a little frustrated when trying to accomplish a new task is "if it doesn't work at first, try, try again." He totally "gets it" and repeats the "try, try again" on his own now. It's a great phrase to teach young children and does help relieve their frustration, knowing that it's OK to not get something the very first time you try it. So I was delighted when I found this activity: I Think I Can For this activity you'll need the book The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. A library will have a copy, but this is one of those books you'll want to own. Materials * The Little Engine That Could Directions 1. Read the book The Little Engine That Could to your child. 2. Talk about how the little engine thought he could make it up the hill, even though it was a very hard thing to do. 3. Ask your child if she thinks she can do something that may seem hard at first, then play the "I Think I Can" game. 4. Ask your child to try different things like "Can you hop on one foot?" or "Can you touch your toes?" 5. Demonstrate for her, then say "I think I can, I think I can" as you hop or bend together. 6. Try this game when you're encouraging your child to pick up her toys. ("Do you think you can put away all your cars before I pick up these puzzles?") ===================== Bottles and Lids Materials -- Collection of bottles and lids of varying sizes Directions 1. Save small plastic bottles with screw-type lids. 2. Your toddler will have lots of fun matching lids to bottles, putting the lids on, taking the lids off, and starting all over again. 3. A bottle collection is also great fun for the bath, or for water play outdoors. ======================== Monkey, Monkey! Too often parents focus on the bad things children do, while letting the good slip by without comment. Brayden reacts extremely well to positive reinforcement. In fact, the other day we were at the festival mentioned in a previous post, and he did well talking to people, saying hello and good-bye, etc. When we got in the car, I said, "You know what I like about you, Brayden?" "Huh?" "I like how you say hello and good-bye to new people. That shows people what a very nice boy you are." That was all that was said. About two hours later, we went to MacDonald's and were sitting in a booth, I saw Brayden -- whenever anyone would walk by our table, he'd give them a quick wave, then look at me and smile. That was his listening to and acting on the positive reinforcement I'd given him! This is a simple way to reinforce and reward cooperation and kindness. Materials Plastic linking monkeys Directions 1. Hang a plastic monkey on the wall in a place where you can add more monkeys to make a chain. 2. When you catch your child being especially kind and cooperative (that is, playing quietly with siblings, helping out without being asked, picking up toys without being reminded, and so on), reward her with a monkey to add to the chain. 3. When the last monkey is hung, treat the whole family to an ice-cream sundae, trip to a local playground, or special afternoon of games. ================ Guessing Bag - I think this sounds like fun! I'm going to try this one this week. Brayden has a very inquisitive mind and I think he'll have fun with this game. I will start out slow -- put just one item (that he's very familiar with) in the bag to start with, and let him get a feel for the game before trying several items as described. Materials * Pillowcase or drawstring bag * Small, unbreakable household objects Directions 1. Place a variety of small, unbreakable household objects inside a bag. 2. Close the bag so the objects are not visible. 3. Have your child feel the objects through the bag and guess what they are. I'm looking for... MUSIC ACTIVITIES I need some help. I'm looking for ideas on for Music activities for Brayden. He is apparently VERY musically inclined and VERY interested in musical instruments. Does anyone have any experience with musical instruments for toddlers (age 2 1/2 - 3 yrs.)?? I'm sure it's too soon to start him on actual music lessons, but what are the alternatives? Currently he tries to finger the holes on a flute, uses a pick to strum songs on an autoharp and is madly in love with all things to do with guitars! I want to encourage this interest, but never past the point where it stops being fun. Any ideas??

This Week's Menues with Notes and Recipes

Monday Chili w/Beans (make extra for freezer) Quick Corn Muffins* Tuesday - Meatless meal Spaghetti, sauce with green and red peppers, onions, eggplant Wednesday Soup, grilled cheese Thursday Chicken and Dumplings* Green salad Friday Ham and Lentil soup (crock pot) Crackers Saturday/Sunday Out of Town This week's Baking Gramma's "Mystery Cake"*

Notes and Recipes: Fall with it's cooler temperatures - low and mid 50's for most of the week - has hit here in Ohio. It's time to get cooking all those great meals we missed all summer - soups, stews, and chili! I love cornbread. I love frugal additions to my meals. Here's a recipe that answers both! Jiffy Cornbread mix is often on sale for .33 a box! These corn muffins are more "muffin" and less "bread" - and all good! Makes 6 - 8 muffins. Corn Muffins 1 pkg Jiffy corn bread mix 2 eggs 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla Mix according to package directions but use 2 eggs instead of one, and adding the sugar and vanilla. Bake according to box diretions. Let cool slightly before serving. Chicken and Dumplings - In my book (and it's an old, well-worn book, believe me!), the simpler the recipe, the better. And being a native New Englander, we love to just boil the be'jesus out of everything. So this recipe appealed to me right away! I found it on a great recipe blog called The Southern Plate. She gives a good step-by-step tutorial on how NOT to have your dumplings fall apart, so take a minute and check out her recipe. Ahhh...comfort food at its best!

Chicken and Dumplings 3 or 4 chicken breasts 32 oz Chicken Broth (feel free to use water with bouillon cubes added) 1 can cream of chicken soup 1-10 count can Pilsbury layers biscuits salt and pepper to taste flour Cook chicken breasts in approx. 4 c. of water until fork tender, about 45 minutes. Place broth in medium to large sized pot. Stir cream of chicken soup into gently boiling broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pull biscuits apart into three layers. Dip each layer into flour and then tear each layer into three pieces and drop into gently boiling broth mixture. Do not stir biscuits a lot, or they will cook up, only gently push dumplings down into broth as they float to the top. Cook about ten minutes after last dumplings are added. Add shredded chicken and turn on low until ready to serve. added, Tear up chicken, add to broth mixture.Turn to low until ready to serve. Gramma's Mystery Cake: What's the mystery ingredient? Don't tell until after you serve it! This recipe will be published here on Wednesday of this week. Worth coming back for!

My DayBook for October 20, 2008

Outside my Window... Nicely raked gardens, bright blue skies, a gentle cool breeze. I am thinking... of how much I enjoyed spending the day with my husband and grandson yesterday. I am thankful for... my grandson being so well-behaved when we're out in public (and even when we're not!). From the kitchen... Grocery list on the counter, waiting to be completed. Coupons needing to be cut out and filed. Sale flyers needing to be poured over. Menues still to be planned. I am wearing... Black sweatpants, blue sweatshirt, black socks, but I'll change before I go out shopping. I am reading... "The Sunday Wife" by Cassandra King. I am hoping... that little fairies will magically appear and clean the rest of my house for me. I am creating... a crazy 9 patch quilt in retro 30's prints. I am hearing... the dishwasher humming, the washing machine sloshing, the dryer clanging -- it's a housework kind of day! Around the house... Clean sheets and clean bathrooms. One of my favorite things... Fall Weather. Blue skies, crisp cool air. No yard work calling my name for a change. For me, the most relaxing season of the year. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... More quilting, grocery shopping and trip to the library, possibly a trip to Buffalo, NY at the end of the week - it's still up in the air. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... Grandkids - gotta love 'em

The Simple Woman's Daybook from The Simple Woman's Blog. Post your own Daybook each Monday!

Groovin' at the Festival

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we took Brayden to a Pioneer Village Festival near Waynesville, OH yesterday, and had ourselves a foot stompin', hand clappin' good time! OK, the music was pretty awful, but a two year old doesn't care! Music is music! Here's a quick video of Mr. Brayden Lee groovin' to the (gospel) music between eating his snack and drinking his orange juice: It was a very small festival, but just the right size for a two year old (no crowds to deal with -- he could run and walk pretty much anywhere he wanted). Brayden and I participated in a flower-pounding demonstration and brought home a square of muslin with yellow colored from mum, which we will take to the sewing room next week and see what we can come up with. We also watched a lady weave baskets (I loved it; Brayden - not so much). The hit of the day for Brayden was watching Native American Indians play a large drum and sing. It was the only time in the entire day he actually sat in his stroller: You can read more about our day's adventure over on Brayden's blog, View from Two. He can tell you about our day better than I can!

I just love being a grandmother

It's 8am Sunday morning, and I'm up early to do some laundry before we head out for the day. The temperatures this morning are in the mid-30's -- such a change from the 80's of last week! The Fall Season isn't just "in the air", it's clubbing us over the head and screaming "Watch out! Winter's right behind me!" LOL Jeff took Friday off and we had a yard work kind of day. He trimmed hedges and bushes and trees, and Brayden and I got out our wheelbarrows, work gloves and rakes, and did the cleaning up. In a comment last week, someone mentioned that Brayden seemed to be very focused on projects at hand, and I have to say, I did notice that this weekend. He's 2 1/2 years old now. While we worked outside, this little guy actually worked hard by my side for 45 minutes. He seemed to feel very grown up when I put the little tiny work gloves on him, and mimicked whatever he saw me doing. If I raked under the shrubs, he got his little rake and raked up the leaves under another shrub -- and did a good job! He raked his leaves into a pile, picked up all the leaves and put them in his little wheelbarrow, and followed me down to the woods behind the house to dump the leaves. He didn't complain, he didn't whine when leaves fell out of his wheelbarrow. He just worked. I've just never seen anything like it. It brought to mind the comment that he focused well and now that I'm looking, I would say yes, he certainly does. And he seems to have pride in doing a good and thorough job as well. I find that fascinating! I wear a silver chain with a charm on the end. The charm has the three morality monkeys - "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." I collect these monkeys and have since I was a child. I have worn this chain and charm for years and years, and like to live by the lesson they teach. The world is a big bad place these days and it's a tiny tiny bit better if I don't invite bad things into my house (via TV, Internet, etc.) and if I don't contribute to them by speaking bad things. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's something I believe in strongly. Brayden and I were sitting outside on the grass, and he was playing with the monkeys on the chain around my neck. (A wonderful, snuggly thing to do.) I asked him if he knew what the charm was, and he said, "Monkeys". I showed him, by putting my hand over my eyes, then ears, then mouth, about the "Hear no, see no, speak no evil" and we talked about it a bit. I explained, in two year old detail, that "evil" means "bad things". "Speak no evil" was the last one I explained, and I when I put my hands over my mouth, Brayden said, "Don't say bad words?" He got it. He actually got it. He said, "Sometimes Mama says bad words." And I explained that yes, sometimes big people say bad words when they get mad, but they shouldn't. I told him it was the ONE time he could tell his Mama "no" -- and told him to say, "No bad words please, Mama." LOL That will probably surprise her! When I went to put Brayden down for a nap on our bed, I layed down with him for a little while. As soon as we layed down, he said, "No more talking?" which is what I tell him at nap time. I said, "That's right - no more talking." He closed his eyes and quietly said, "I luvvvvv you, Umma." And I said, "I love you Brayden". He smiled at me and said, "No more talking?" LOL I said, "That's right." And he closed his eyes again... and "I luvvvvv you, Umma". This little cycle went on until I realized he was joking with me to get me to talk!! LOL I laughed and looked at him and said, "OK, that's enough. This time really no more talking." He picked his little head up, put his fingers to his mouth and did the "lock it, turn the key, throw away the key" thing! LOL! He's got such a funny sense of humor! Today, we're taking Brayden to a Pioneer Festival. He got such a kick out of the Appalachian Festival we took him to in May, that we thought we'd do it again. He loves clapping his hands and dancing to the music, and watching people play banjo's and guitars and dulcimers. The weather is perfect and I'll pack a picnic lunch to take with us. Hopefully, I'll take some photos, too! Those who know my family know that this little guy has been through some very traumatic times in his short life, thanks to his "father". He's had bad things happen to him that never should have happened, he's had scarey things happen to him, and he's been severely injured by someone who should have kept him safe. But this little guy can light up the world with his smile, and make you gasp with how much common sense he exhibits. If I sometimes sound a little too mushy about him, it's because we have been through these traumatic events with him and know how easily we could have lost him. He's a funny, intelligent, loving little boy who needs to know and understand that the same world that holds bad things can also hold a lot of love and a commitment by his mother and his grandparents to keep him safe. If you ask Brayden what Umpa's job is, and he says, "He works on a 'puter at XXXXX (company name). Ask him what Mama's job is, and he says, "She works at XXXXX." Ask him what Umma's job is, and he says, "To keep Brayden safe." From his mouth to God's ears.

One little mouse - one huge difference

My computer has been showing it's age (5 years) lately, and getting a bit tired -- the internet had slowed down, games had slowed down -- so, for the first time, I decided to upgrade my computer rather than go out and buy a new one. First, I added 1 gig of memory. I didn't notice much difference, so I then added a new video accelerator card and noticed a small difference, but not what I was looking for. Next, we upgraded to a faster router for our Road Runner service, and wow! did that ever make a difference. Then last night while at Best Buy, I picked up a new Mouse and Mouse pad. Now you'd think all mice mouses one mouse would be the same as the next, but wow, do I love this new mouse! It's a Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 , definitely not the most expensive one at Best Buy, priced at ?$24.00 I think. But let me tell you, for anyone who is getting "old" eyes, this mouse is THE answer. It has a magnifier on it! You're clicking away, looking at a web page and see a caption under a photo, but can't read the teeny tiny print -- you place your mouse arrow over the area you want to read, click on a small button on the side of the mouse, and up pops a magnified edition of what you were reading. It can be a small 2 x 2 inches, or you can magnify the entire page. You adjust the size of the magnified area easily by moving the mouse while holding that little left button down. When you're done with the magnified area, you simply click that button again, and it disappears. The mouse also has 4-way scrolling -- you can use the middle scroll button to scroll up and down OR left to right. The other feature of this mouse is that it's comfortable! It's a nice relaxing fit to my hand. It's sleek and gently rounded, longer than any mouse I've had before so my hand rests on it nicely. Saying all that, I just went out on the 'net to see if I could find a picture of it, and came across this description of it on Amazon.com: "Microsoft's most comfortable and affordable mouse in its class, Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 is outfitted with smart features and an ergonomic design. The shape of this mouse provides more contact with the user's hand, reducing pressure, and the ambidextrous design delivers superior comfort in either hand.The new Magnifier tool delivers real-time magnification on any section of the screen, making viewing and editing of hard-to-see text or pictures easier than ever. The Tilt Wheel makes navigating and viewing documents, spreadsheets and images more efficient with four-way scrolling capabilities. And High Definition Optical Technology provides more precise, responsive and smoother tracking." Yeah, what they said! Seriously, this may be one of the best (and least expensive) upgrades for my computer, and I highly recommend it if you have any difficulty reading fine print on the Internet.