Homeschool Break Sewing Time!

 I am so happy that I was able to do a sewing project from start to finish last week! 

I sewed this little dress for my new niece. I was excited to get to meet her! I wanted to sew a dress for her to bring as a gift when we met her. I didn't have much time. Thankfully, we are on homeschool break and I had more time to dedicate to this sewing project.

One thing that made this project go quickly was the fact that it is a large version of my doll dress pattern. I have sewn dozens of these dresses. The construction process has become second nature for me. I don't have to spend any mental energy figuring out the directions because I know them by heart.

In this new year I want to be able to sew more. I am going to give myself 20 minutes of sewing time each day. 20 minutes doesn't sound like much time to me, but after 3 days that's an hour, and after a month (excluding Sunday) that's 8 hours and 40 minutes! Wow! I didn't realize how many sewing hours 20 minutes each day would give me until I did the math right now for this blog post! I am really excited! I'll be finishing a project every month, at the least.

I hope you all are having a great start to your new year! 

Let's Read Through The Bible Again!

Years ago my sister in law told me that she had heard about a family who read the Bible together every day. They read through the Bible every year. Each child that was old enough to read read a portion out loud each day. One of the children had such a good memory and had read through the Bible so many times that he could give the reference to any passage that was quoted to him. No matter what page you flipped to, he could tell you what chapter and verse you were reading. 

After hearing that story, I thought, "That's what I want for my children!" Can you imagine how helpful that level of knowledge of the scriptures would be for a person's Christian walk? How quickly you could spot when a false teacher is twisting God's word? Or, even when a person with the right intentions may misquote or misuse the word of God. And even when Bible story books leave out parts, or, God forbid; add parts to the story.

My first baby was born in 2015. When the New Year came I started reading the Bible to my baby. 2016 was the first year that I read my Bible through, aloud.

It has taken me 2 years to read the Bible through sometimes. But, I haven't given up. I just pick up where I left off and keep going.

This year I got through the whole Bible. I finished the last page of Revelation yesterday.

The children are already anticipating starting over in Genesis. I am waiting until the New Year to start over. I did read to them some Psalms for our Bible reading today. My oldest said in a disappointed tone, "You aren't starting over?"

"Yes, yes we will start over!"

I'd like to encourage you to start with us!

We read 3 pages a day 5-6 days a week. This schedule gives us plenty of cushion days for when "things" happen and we don't get to read our 3 pages.

Find a Bible reading plan that works for you. When you fall off the plan (because you will) get back up, dust yourself off, and start where you left off. 

God's word has power. I guarantee that it will be a blessing to your spirit.

Psalms 119:105 

 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 

and a light unto my path.

Banana Cake | Delicious Recipe

 

This Banana Cake was the centerpiece for a birthday at our house this week. 

I discovered this Banana Cake recipe in an old Better Crocker cook book. 

The cook book went missing for several years after being packed up for a move and put into storage. I didn't have the recipe written down anywhere. When the cook book went missing so did the Banana Cake recipe. Sigh.

I tried some other Banana Cake recipes, but they just didn't measure up. I hadn't expected a Banana Cake recipe to be so unequivocally delicious.

The Betty Crocker Banana Cake is light and delicate in texture and flavor. It is moist and sweet and very banana flavored. Mmmmmm!

Finally, the Betty Crocker cook book was rediscovered amongst all the storages boxes! Now I will write the recipe here on my blog, never to be lost again! 

Give this Banana Cake a try. You won't regret it!

Banana Cake 2 9" layers or 1 9"×13"

1/2 c. Shortening (or 6 T. Butter + 2 T. Oil)

1 1/2 c. Sugar

2 Large Eggs (1/2 c.)

2 c. Flour

1/2 t. Baking Powder 

3/4 t. Baking Soda 

1 t. Salt

1/4 c. Buttermilk

1 c. Mashed Ripe Bananas

Grease and flour cake pan(s).

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Cream together until fluffy the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs and beat until light in color.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt 

In a small bowl mix together the mashed banana and the buttermilk.

Alternately stir in the flour mixture and the banana mixture into the creamed butter, sugar and eggs in 3 or so additions.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl to combine.

Beat on high for 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pans. 

Bake layers for 20-25 minutes or a 9"×13" for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done.

Remove to wire wrack. Cool 10 minutes before turning layers out of their pans.

Cool completely before frosting.

Mr. In The Mid-west's All Time Favorite Oatmeal Cookie Recipe!

 

This recipe is a childhood favorite of Mr. In The Mid-west's. I acquired the recipe recently from one of his sisters. She messaged me and said something like, "You mentioned in the past that (his name) would like to have the oatmeal cookie recipe. I came across it last night in one of my recipe books, so here it is........."

I kid you not, less than 30 minutes before she sent me that message Mr In The Mid-west had said to me, "We really need to get my family's oatmeal cookie recipe. Those sound really good right now!"

When the message and recipe came through from his sister. I told him, "You're not going to believe this! Your sister just sent me the recipe. I didn't say anything to her about you wanting the recipe a few minutes ago!"

Backpack Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup oatmeal (old fashioned is ideal but quick oats work fine.)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup walnuts (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla, beat with a spoon until well mixed. 

In another bowl combine the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well. 

Combine the dry ingredients with the oil mixture. 

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F. for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on bottoms.

Homemade Noodles! | Recipe

 

Thanksgiving is approaching! It the best holiday of the year! 

With Thanksgiving comes a lot of food preparation. So much cooking! Last week I made 5 batches of noodles. One of these years I'm going to have to invest in a pasta machine. I'm sure it would make the job go a lot faster!

Does anyone else have egg noodles as part of their traditional Thanksgiving meal? For most of my growing up years my family never had noodles for Thanksgiving. One year a guest that we were having over said that Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be complete without egg noodles. My mother wanted to accommodate their tradition so she found a recipe for egg noodles in her Good Housekeeping cook book. 

Her Good Housekeeping cook book is like a cooking encyclopedia for the kitchen. It is a few inches thick with step by step illustrations; teaching everything from gravy making to bread baking, from how to cut a multi-layer cake to how to prepare a lobster, how to carve everything from ham to leg of lamb, humble things like biscuits and not so humble things like blinis with caviar. This is the kind of book that every new Bride needs!

It is the book that my Mother turned to when she wanted to learn how to make noodles. The recipe was good and so were the instructions. It walked a complete newbie through the process without using any special equipment. Then I tried my hand at it. My noodles were thin and ribbon-y and my mom's were thick and dumpling like. 

The consensus was that I should be the noodle maker. And I still am today! Whenever we go to my family's for Thanksgiving I bring homemade noodles.

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. oil

1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat for 2 minutes.

With wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Cover dough and let rest 30 minutes.

Cut dough in half. On floured surface roll dough out to a 20"×14" rectangle, then fold in half crosswise, and in half again crosswise, (flouring between the layers), to form a 5"×14" rectangle. Cut into strips.

Unfold strips and lay on a cloth towel. 

Repeat rolling, folding, cutting, and unfolding with remaining dough.

Let strips dry at least 2 hrs. before cooking. Continue drying the noodles until crisp to store for later. Noodles can be stored in airtight containers or bags in the freezer at this point.

Cook 5-8 minutes in boiling broth, unless you want to drain the cooking liquid, in that case just use boiling water.

Making Old Stuff New!

 I have a pile of clothes that I want to make alterations to for my little girl to wear. 

This is a massive pile of sewing for me to get through! We'll see how far I get on one Saturday. 

Piece 1

Description: Justice brand, girl's size 10, white dress with a lacy over layer. The construction of this dress is better than most clothing I work with. I don't buy by brand name, but this makes me think that some brands are better quality than other's.

 The length of this dress just about right for my daughter. I am just going to take in the side seams a little bit, cut off the excess, finish the edges and topstitch the seam allowance towards the back.

Pieces 2+3

Description: Two Candies brand dresses. Size 7. If it wasn't for the straps these dress would fit my girl just right.

I cut the straps free from the back of the bodice.

I shortened the straps significantly and stitched them in a V orientation at the center back of the bodice.

These two dresses fit my daughter now!

Piece 4

Description: A Faded Glory, size 12, shiney, skirt with a zipper closer in the back. This was a good length but, too wide.

I put some tucks in the waistband in a few places that I thought that tucks would be inconspicuous. A couple in the front and a couple in the back.

Piece 5

Description: Black and white, ruffled, size Large, skort with a wide elastic band at the waist.

Once again the length is good, but it is too wide.

I took in the sides, trimmed off the excess material and finished the new edges. I also cut the middle out of the shorts lining. I didn't finish the edges on what was left of the shorts because it is a knit material, therefore, I don't have to worry about it unraveling. Obviously, I am not trying to win any prizes with these alterations I have made. The sewing that I have done is practical, not always pretty.

Piece 6

Description: Art Class brand, size 5, cute smock style dress, with embroidered design and ruffles at the shoulders.

This dress was too wide in the shoulder area. I stitched two pleats in the back of of the bodice on either side of the buttons.

Now it fits perfectly.

That's it for this Saturday. It is getting late. I have to pick up my mess and put the children to bed. I'll wait for another Saturday to finish my pile of alterations! See you then!

Finding A Pretty Planter

 

A sweet lady from Church gave me a couple starts from her house plant several weeks ago. I have been keeping these poor starts in a jar of water. I don't think they were very happy, but they were surviving.

I wanted some decorative pots to plant them in. It took me a while to do a thrift shopping outing. I don't know about you, but I am a home body through and through, plus, I don't like to drive. It takes me a while to work up enough gumption to go shopping especially when I am not shopping for such necessities as food. 

Mr. In The Mid-west and I were out recently for our anniversary and we did some thrift shopping. I found this pretty blue and white ceramic container for $3. Score! The inside of the pot was not fully glazed, but I came up with a plan to protect it from moisture.

I cut the bottom off of this plastic cup that we got as a freebie at a car show several years ago. We have 3 of them and I was about to throw one away. I have a use for the other 2. One lives in the bath tub for scooping water to rinse hair. And the other is the crayon container. I digress,.......

I put the red neck water tray in the bottom of the ceramic pot.

I poked drainage holes in a plastic sourcream container.

I potted the plant in the sourcream container, which fits perfectly into the pretty pot.

I also found a cute metal bowl with stenciled blue duck embellishments. Now my house plant starts both have a home. I bet they are happy to get out of the jar of water and have their roots in some soil!

Green Tomatoes Before The Frost

This year I picked all my green tomatoes before the frost and lacto fermented them. This is the first time I have tried preserving green tomatoes. I didn't want the tomatoes to go to waste, if possible.

I have this belief that fermented foods are really healthy. That is why I settled on lacto fermentation as my preservation method.

My Harvest! 18 pounds of produce.

I chopped the tomatoes and the peppers that 
I found in the garden.

I salted the vegetables and submerged
 them in a brine.

In one crock I used these muslin
spice bags to help contain the tomato
pieces under the ceramic weights.
The spice bags didn't have any spice
in them. I just needed some kind of cloth
to hold all the tomatoes under the brine. 

In these glass containers I used plastic lids
to hold the tomatoes under the brine.
I stacked the one vessel inside the other to weigh
the lower tomatoes down.

After 12 days at room temperature I checked
the tomatoes for acidity by tasting them.

There was quite a lot of kahm yeast
growing on the surface of the brine.
This yeast is benign and harmless.

I tried scooping off some of the yeast,
But most of it mixed into the brine and fell.

The tomatoes tasted briney and sour.
They had a nice tingly zing. 

Now, tell me if these picked tomatoes look appealing to you. I think they look delicious! But I am weird that way. Lol! I like all kinds of foods that turn Mr. In the Mid-west's stomach. Let me add: he is in no way a picky eater. I'm just strange. Haha!

Anyway, I really like to chop these pickled tomatoes into a smaller dice and use them as a topping for bowls of rice with natto, tuna, and freshly diced onion. Yum!.......for me. :)