Friday Show and Tell!

Kelli over at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ host Show and Tell each Friday. Click on over and join the fun.

This week I would like to show you my pond and my springtime "friends"! Sorry for the dark photo, I took this picture early this morning. My dear husband built this pond beside our front porch even though I was pretty skeptical of the idea. I was afraid it would draw mosquitos. But we have a very "green" and "organic" way to get rid of the mosquitos.
These guys are very effective against mosquitos and all flying insects and the best part about having them inhabit our pond is their mating call at night. That can lure me to sleep in about a minute. Almost every night I go out on the porch with my coffee or tea and sit in the dark and listen.
And I am so excited that my allium has bloomed! I first saw the allium on Anita's blog ( click on Anita on my blog roll) and was totally intrigued with it so I ordered some and planted them this past fall.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Blessings

Linda

Watermelon Rind Preserves

This week as I was visiting with my Grandmother she got to telling me about how much she loved her mother's watermelon rind preserves and that she hadn't had any since her mom died. Grandma is unfortunately in a nursing home right now and is not eating very well, so I decided I would find her some preserves. I called all the local grocers only to find out that most of them had never even heard of watermelon rind preserves. So I started pulling out my recipe books and found one in a 1935 Ball Blue Book. I love the look of this book!

Watermelon Rind Preserves:

4 lbs watermelon rind- trim off the red and eat immediately with the juice running down your arms then trim the dark green off leaving only the white part.

Alum-dissolved (optional) I didn't use this because I couldn't find it in the store

2 Lemons- very thinly sliced

9 cups Sugar

Spices -(even though the recipe doesn't specify the spices here, further down it says add cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Use the whole spices not the ground. I took the spices and tied them in a cheese cloth bag because they will discolor the fruit if you leave them in. I used about a tablespoon of each.)

Cut melon rind into cubes. Soak in a salt solution (2 quarts of water to 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt) overnight.

Drain. Parboil in fresh water containing a pinch of dissolved allum if desired. (The recipe doesn't say how long so I boiled them for about 15 minutes). Drain again. Make a syrup of 9 cups of sugar and 8 cups of water. Add 2 lemons sliced thin. If desired add some ginger root. (I didn't have any). Put spice bag and rind in and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and boil slowly until tender. (Ok, this took almost 3 hours! When I told my aunt I was making them she told me they took forever to get tender and she wasn't kidding!)

When they are done they will be almost translucent and the syrup will be thick. Pack into clean, sterilized hot jars ( I used 1/2 pint) and seal. I put mine in a water bath for 20 minutes.

They really turned out pretty! The recipe made 8 half pint jars.

I am stopping at the grocery store on my way to the nursing home today and get a couple fresh, hot biscuits and taking a jar of these preserves to Grandma. Hopefully they will taste as good as her mothers.

Have a blessed day!

Linda

FOR EXCHANGE!

This week as I was looking for an old newspaper clipping about Artists Trading Cards for a friend, I came across this old paper that I had in with my recipe clippings. I have no idea how old it is but judging from the pictures I would guess around 1910 or 1920ish. Maybe older.

(Nancy, I am still looking for that article!)

The recipes are very basic. This is exactly how this recipe reads for Sour-cream Cake

One cup sugar, one cup sour cream, one and one half cups flour and one half teaspoonful soda. Put in small pan and bake quickly.

The paper also goes on to tell how Mrs Gertrude Warner Scott was cured of her kidney trouble with Dr. Kilmers Swamp Root medication. Thats a photo of her above. There are other testimonials of how Dr. Kilmers Swamp Root was the miracle cure for their kidney problems. If you wish to purchase this cure please write to Dr. Kilmer and Co, Binghamton NY and send $1.00.

In the home helps section there is an ad from a Mrs G.H. Fretter from Detroit Michigan that will tell any suffering woman how she cured herself of female weakness at no charge!

But my favorite part of this clipping is the "For Exchange" section. Here is an example of what people wanted to trade:

Miss Florence Ross of Circleville Ohio will trade two braids of fine dark brown hair for dry goods or offers or a recipe to keep jellies from molding for two yards of good outing flannel, any color.

Mrs. M.E. Woodard of Wildrose Wisconsin would like to trade a recipe for reducing flesh for 10 yards of calico or 6 yards of worsted goods.

Ina Hicks of Exray West Virginia will trade a recipe for enlarging the bust and a recipe for making lily face wash, for three yards of good muslin or outing.

Mrs. M Booth of Fall River MA wants to trade one year each of Peoples Home Journal, The Mayflower, Fireside Gems, Golden Moments, and Nichols Monthly for two pairs of black cashmere stockings, size 8, for a child. (Note: I read this one through a couple times trying to decide if she wanted the stockings for the child or if whe would trade the stockings for the child)

Mrs G.W. McCalister of Murdockville PA would like to trade a side saddle for a singing bird.

Mattie Brown of Trenton NJ will trade a course in magnetic healing for any offer.

Mrs. Charles M Hawn of Leo Wyoming wants to trade a corset cover for anything useful.

Mrs Allie Gardner of Palmyra Iowa would like for the lady who suggested eating burnt sponge

for goitre to write to her.

And the list goes on and on.

Reading this clipping is like reading a history book. The history of everyday people, not the history of wars or government or explorers that you learn in school. And that's what interests me most.

Blessings

Linda

Emergency Chocolate Chip Bars

I'm sure that all Moms out there with school age children have had a conversation that goes like this:

Child- I signed up to bring cookies to the teachers banquet.

Me: That's fine. Just remind me in time to buy the ingredients. When do you need them?

Child: Tomorrow!

This conversation took place last night at 8:00 p.m. We live pretty far away from a grocery store so I couldn't just run out and buy cookies, so I pulled out this recipe. It's quick and easy and most of the ingredients are probably in your pantry now.

Chocolate Chip Bars

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) cold butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 egg slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 c. chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, stir together flour and brown sugar: cut in cold butter until crumbly. Stir in 1/2 c. chocolate chips; press mixture on bottom of ungreased 9x13x2 baking pan.

Bake 15 minutes. Meanshite, in large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, egg, and vanilla. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and nuts. Spread evenly over baked crust.

Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 24 bars.

Enjoy!

Linda

What's Bloomin' at my house!

I love all the colors on this Josephs Coat rose. Yellow, light pink, dark pink, and a hint of orange all on one rose! I don't remember what this rose is called, somehow the marker disappeared. It has such velvety looking petals.
And this one is called "Angel Face" but I call it Chanin's Angel Face, as my friend Chanin gave me this rose a couple of years ago knowing that purple is my favorite color.
I love, love, love this white Iris!

But this deep purple and white is my very favorite!

Isn't this Lantana pretty! I love the color but I wish I had never planted this! This plant spreads like mint! I have been pulling it up for two years now, and still have plenty! If I ever get it all pulled up I will be planting it henceforth in a pot!

Blessings and Blooms!

Linda

This and That

WARNING: A mom's shameless brag alert!
My dear son Yngwie and his band called "The Deposit" played at his high school last Friday at a benefit concert for the Americal Leukiemia and Lymphoma Foundation. They play mostly classic rock, but also played a little "new" rock and some blues. The concert raised $800.00!!!! Yngwie is on the left with the blue guitar. We are so proud of all the work he put into making this concert such a success.



My Peter Rabbit garden is doing so well! I have already had radishes and spinach from this little garden and the herbs are doing fantastic.
Peter Rabbit is keeping a close watch on the parsley and chives. In the background you can see some of the lettuce and spinach.
Would you like some pineapple mint for your tea or lemonade? Also starting up are some cinnamon basil, some chamomile, dill, and cilantro. They have just started poking out of the ground.
I absolutely love this color tulip. I only bought 12 of them last fall, so this year I am hoping to find some more of this variety and color.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Spring!
Blessings

Linda

Friday Show and Tell

This weeks show and tell is somewhat bitter-sweet. My dear friend Shirley is moving away into a much smaller house and has decided to simplify her life by getting rid of things she doesn't use frequently. So she has given me some pieces of her grandmothers crystal.Shirley gave me this platter and small bowl a couple of years ago for my birthday. She said she never used it and kept it packed away. Knowing how much I like to entertain, she gave it to me. I can't tell you how many times I have used it. It is perfect for a fruit tray. Isn't the etching beautiful?

It really is hard to get a picture of crystal to show up well in a photo! This is the bud vase that she gave me this week, holding some of the tulips from my garden. I love the shape of this vase.

And last but not least, here is what I call a "pickle" dish. But wouldn't crimson colored cranberry sauce look beautiful in it! I am really going to miss her living nearby, but she has decided to retire and move closer to her daughter and grandsons and I know she is going to love that and if we meet half way it won't be too much of a drive for us to see each other occasionally too.

Stop over at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ for more show and tell fun!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Blessings

Linda

Friday Show & Tell

Good Morning! Kelli athttp://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ hosts show and tell each Friday. Thanks Kelli!

Today my show and tell is about our collection of antique ogee clocks.

The first one is our favorite. It is a wooden works clock, and I love the reverse painting on the front of the horse drawn carriage.

In our almost 28 years of marriage we have collected alot of ogee clocks, most of the bought at auction sales.

The one on the right is a favorite because of the painting of Mt. Vernon, home to our first President, George Washington.

The name "ogee" comes from the bevel or ogee shape the frame of the clock is cut in.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Linda

Gardening News

My Peter Rabbit garden is coming along nicely. As you can see Peter is patiently waiting for the radishes, lettuce and spinach to get big enough to nibble on. The parsley and chives are flourishing, but he doesn't seem to want to try that.Do you see him peeking through the chives?

I am also posting these next two photos for HELP!

I am totally befuddled as to what to do with this area. It is a brick walk on the side of the pool house that is pretty much shaded until late evening. There is a small brick "stoop" that opens to nothing. Please ignore the water hose, we are filling the pool. I thought about hosta for along the brick wall, but they are the preferred apetizer for the deer that run amuck in our area. I also would like some color along that brick wall. I am willing to dig, move bricks, whatever it would take to make this area look more inviting. My son Ynwie is painting the gate and gate posts this week, so that will help some.

So if anyone out there has any ideas, I would surely appreciate them!

Blessings

Linda

Thrifty Finds

Saturday morning bright and early, I headed to the Catholic school as they had advertised they were having a big yard sale! Big was not a big enough word for this yardsale, it was enormous! It was well planned as well. All kids stuff was together, all books together by subject, etc...

I feel like I struck gold! I got everything you see above and about 20 little dolls, that I didn't photograph yet. There are 7 cookbooks, a Christmas angel doll, a chintz rabbit, a Staffordshire Christmas plate and little teal/cobalt blue compote dish that does not show up in this photo.

The best part is all of this came to a grand total of $20!

I also bought a new book this weekend that is a part of a series called "Tales from Grace Chapel Inn" The book I have is book 2, but I have already ordered book 1 and 3. If you like the "Mitford" series, you will like these books as well. From what I can tell there are about 50 of these books, written by different authors, but about the same town and inn. I highly reccomend them for some fun reading.

Blessings

Linda

Friday Show and Tell

Well, I'm late again, but better late than never. This week for show and tell I would like to show you what's blooming in my gardens.Red Parrot tulips!

Lavendar colored tulips.

Bleeding HeartsYellow poppies

Pink poppies

And lots of pansies!

For more show and tell, click over to http://kellishouse.blogspot.com!

Blessings

Linda

This and That

I always get such a thrill out of seeing what plants made it through the winter, and seeing bulbs sprout up that I forgot I planted! Aren't these red fringed parrot tulips beautiful! I had totally forgotten that I planted them and when I saw the plant coming up, I wondered what color they were going to be.

I love these lilac colored tulips, I'm not sure how those red ones got mixed in, again probably something that I planted then forgot. I am always afraid of pulling any weeds in the flower garden until I let them grow and see if they really are a weed, or if they are a flower!

Let me introduce you to my redneck husband. He and my son bought this piece of junk racing boat last fall and have spent the winter trying to restore it. They have a long way to go! Any way, they wanted to try it out so they put it in the water Sunday. There are no seats in it, but they sat on the floor and drove it around. Getting it back on the trailer proved to be a problem, and DH ended up having to get in the lake to get it back on. The water is freezing, but he suffered no ills from getting so cold and the boat is being prepped to be painted in the next week or two.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Linda

Butterscotch-Apple Cake

Last week I came across a website called noblepig.com. She has a very funny style of writing and the recipes looked delicious. So I decided to give this one a try and am I ever glad I did. I'm not a big cake girl, but I loved this one as did dear husband and son. Below is the recipe, but head over to the noblepig for a very entertaining and beautifully photographed version of this recipe.

Butterscotch-Apple Cake

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups finely chopped apples (I used Gala)

1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)

1 cup butterscotch morsels

Garnish: caramel sauce and whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together oil and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, beat well.

Let me stop right here to tell you that this mixture was too stiff for my poor cheap mixer. If you have a heavy duty stand mixer you will probably be ok, the batter looks nothing like cake batter, more like a stiff cookie dough. But keep on going, it will turn out ok!

Stir in vanilla, apples, and pecans. Mixture will be thick. (She's not kidding!).

Spread mixture evenly in a greased 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle butterscotch chips over top. Bake 55 minutes.

Cool completely in pan. Garnish with caramel sauce and whipped cream (I didn't have either and it was great just plain.)

I had a big piece of this cake, with a glass of cold milk, I curled up in my favorite chair with my favorite mystery book and I was in heaven!

Yngwie had band practice today, so I headed down on the city market, to check out the spring plants. I ended up buying two yellow oriental poppies and some english daisies that I have now planted around my pond.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Blessings

Linda

I'm Still Alive!

Sorry for the neglected blog. I took 4 days off for Spring break with Yngwie and we were so busy, I didn't even think about blogging!

Things are blooming around the house and that makes me happy! I love spring flowers! My hyacinths are gorgeous this year! I love the waxy look of the blooms and one bloom in your house will scent the whole house with a sweet scent.

This year the Easter Bunny left me an early surprise! I went out to the pool garden the Saturday before Easter and look what I found waiting! The Easter Bunny sure knows me pretty well. Chocolate and flowers! Wow!
I have begun planting in the Peter Rabbit garden and will try to get pictures soon. So far I have planted radishes, lettuce, and spinach in the PR garden, I still want to put in some carrots and some herbs, but it's too early yet for them. In the "big" veggie garden we have planted spinach, lettuce, radishes, beets, turnips, and onions. Yngwie has repaired the electric fence and we are good to go. It will be a couple more weeks before I will be able to plant anything else.

Wishing everyone a wonderful evening!
Linda