This is my fancy new pasta machine. My sweet, sweet husband surprised me with this for my birthday. It's beautiful!
He bought this fancy pasta drying wrack, too. I have rolled out noodles with a rolling pin for years. I always thought it would be so nice to have a pasta machine. The job is so easy and kinda fun with my new pasta machine. I have been making a lot of chicken and noodles. I think I might actually be in danger of making my family sick of noodles. ;)
This is the noodle recipe that I always use: Homemade Noodles. You don't have to have a pasta machine if you want to try them.
Caddie Woodlawn's Family by Carol Ryrie Brink, originally published as Magical Melons in 1939: 193 pages.
This book is the sequel to the Newberry Medal winning Caddie Woodlawn. I had not known there was a sequel until a month or so ago when I saw this at the library. I recommend both Caddie Woodlawn and Caddie Woodlawn's Family. They are episodic in nature. Each chapter tells about an episode in Caddie's childhood. She was a real girl growing up in the 1860's in Wisconsin, kind of like Laura Ingalls. She was always going on adventures with her brothers. She can't keep a white dress white and her mother is after her father for letting Caddie do all the manly things like plowing, but she is a fun loving girl who tries her best to stay out of trouble.
I admire Caddie's father for helping her find a balance between tomboyishness and ladylikeness. She wanted to be outside and do all the outdoor things. Mr. Woodlawn told Mrs. Woodlawn to let him have Caddie and raise her outdoors more so. He felt that she would have better health by spending more time doing exploring and physical activities outside.
I enjoy old fashioned stories especially when they are about real people and they are always more fun if children are involved. There are chapters about school, rivalry, secret good deeds, harrowing stories from the frontier days, seeing the medicine show, caring for neighbors, fourth of July celebrations, and many other tales from growing up in a large family on a farm in the 1800's.
We went shopping for my little girl this month. She needed some new outfits. Here are two combos. Next month I should have two more ready to show you. The skirts we found all needed alterations to work.
I had/have to tighten elastic waist bands, add elastic waist bands, and shorten hems.
I also sewed two buttons: one for a pair of little boy pants and one for my dress that I have replaced buttons on before (you may recognize it.)
I have also been sewing patches on my son's overalls that he has worn to death. He has pleaded for me to patch them so I am working on it.
My favorite picture in this batch is the frog. Mostly because it was a funny situation. The Comma Butterfly picture is close second favorite. Which picture do like the best from this month? What are your favorite things about this time of year?
Our last Monarch caterpillar went into it's chrysalis. It crawled onto our door jam to make it's transformation.
Metamorphosis!
We took it outside to let it's wings finish drying.
I saw a whole bunch of turkeys during my morning walk this month. I couldn't get very close to take a picture. That is why this picture is grainy. I was surprised to see so many birds!
I was sad to see this snake crushed one morning.
I was amazed to find dozens of these caterpillars crawling down our road one morning. I have no idea where they are going or why they are going together or where they came from, but I took a short video clip to show you.
A lot of mornings I take a picture of sunrise down at the end of our road where it joins the highway. I can tell the sun is working it's way in a southerly direction across the eastern horizon. Sunrise doesn't happen before 6:30 anymore either.
Our resident Garden Spider is getting quite fat!
We acquired a jumping spider this month and are keeping him in a terrarium. Here he is eating a fly.
This is one of the frogs that was hanging out in our RV water tank. I got three of them to jump out when I refilled the tank last time. The stinkers! I had heard them singing down there in their echo-y chamber so I wasn't too surprised to find them blocking the water inlet pipe.
This Comma Butterfly came to sample our watermelon mess. I don't see Comma or Question Mark Butterflies too often. I was glad that I had my camera handy.
Seasons are changing! From the later sunrises to the goldenrod blooming, Autumn is here!
I cobbled together this coleslaw dressing a couple weeks ago. It turned out really good. I am going to write it out here for future reference. I think it could be improved by the addition of a little black pepper. I'll include that in this this ingredient list even though I did not use black pepper in my version.
Coleslaw Dressing for 2 1/2 lbs. Shredded cabbage
1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. Ground Mustard
1/4 t. Celery Seed
1/8 t. Black Pepper
Mix well and pour over shredded cabbage right before serving.
I made this cake last week for my birthday. It is one of my mom's recipes. I doubled the cocoa because I love chocolate. Talk about rich! Three sticks of butter in total, 2 cups of sugar and 3 cups of powdered sugar. I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it wasn't. It was delicious! And I would make it again without changing a thing (except that cocoa thing which I already did.)
Peanut Butter Fudge Cake Recipe
1 c. Butter 1 c. Water 1/2 c. Cocoa 2 c. Sugar 2 c. Flour 1 t. Baking Soda 1 t. Salt 2 Eggs, Beaten 1/2 c. Buttermilk Peanut Butter Layer: 1/2 c. Peanut Butter Frosting: 1/2 c. Butter 1/4 c. Cocoa Powder 6 T. Buttermilk 3 c. Powdered Sugar 1 t. Vanilla Flavor
Boil butter, water, and cocoa. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt together. Pour boiled mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. Combine eggs and buttermilk in measuring cup. Add eggs and buttermilk to to batter, stirring constantly to prevent eggs from cooking.
Pour into greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350°F. 45-50 minutes.
While cake is baking boil butter, buttermilk, cocoa for frosting. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar. Spread peanut butter over cake while still warm. Pour frosting over peanut butter. Allow to cool before serving. Enjoy!
This is the same recipe as my mom's Texas Sheet Cake except you put it in a 13"×18" sheet pan. Bake at 350°F. 25-30 minutes. Use the same frosting. Leave out the peanut butter.
This is Mr. In the Mid-west's favorite coffee cake that I make on Saturday mornings sometimes and for birthday breakfasts often. I thought maybe you'd like to try it sometime. It is super easy to throw together in the morning.
Betty Crocker Coffee Cake
3 c. Flour
1 1/3 c. Sugar
1T. +2 t. Baking Powder
1 1/2 t. Salt
1/2 c. Oil
1 1/2 c. Milk
2 eggs
In a bowl mix together dry ingredients.
Separately combine wet ingredients.
Stir the two mixes together.
Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with TOPPING.
Bake at 375°F. for 25-30 min.
TOPPING:
2/3 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Flour
2 t. Cinnamon
6 T. Soft Butter
Mix together until a crumbley texture is achieved.
I make a half size recipe and bake it in a smaller pan to fit my toaster oven.
