Texas Memories - Old Time Kitchen

Fredericksburg, Texas

Crock Pot Apple Butter

As autumn is rapidly approaching in the northern hemisphere, maybe this recipe will be handy to someone. I don't remember where it came from.

Crock Pot Apple Butter 

Peel and core apples, cut in quarters, enough to fill a 4 quart crock pot to about 1 1/2 inches from the top: 

ADD: 

4 tsp. Cinnamon 

1/2 tsp Cloves 

1/2 tsp Salt 

3 Cups Sugar 

Start on high with about 4 TBL. water, till it gets hot, then turn on low and cook all day. When it is done and apples are fully cooked down put small amounts into food processor and zap quickly till smooth. 

For long term storage you will need to freeze or can this.

NOTE: If you are canning this, reheat the apple butter to boiling after it is pureed and it put into hot sterilized jars and seal with hot, sterilized lids. It may need to be put through a period of hot water bath in a canner as well. Look it up to find out. I know some people believe that home canning apple butter is not safe, however, my mom made it for years and we never had an issue. Ours was not super thick.

Kitchen Tip - Transporting or Storing A Pie with A Creamy Topping

If you don't have a pie carrying container, it can sometimes be difficult to store or transport a pie with a creamy top. If you just cover the pie with plastic film or aluminum foil it may stick to the topping and pull it off when it's removed. 

Some years back I tried this solution and it worked quite well for me in this instance: I wadded up some plastic film and place it gently on the top of the pie. Then I covered the all of this somewhat lightly with more plastic film, pressing it around the edges so that it would stay on. As you can see from the following photos, it worked reasonably well. The pie kept quite nicely and the topping was not pulled off  or ruined when the plastic film was removed.

Regrowing Vegetables from Kitchen Scraps

Here is video showing how you can grow new food from vegetable trimmings. If you don't have a garden to plant the things in later after they root and sprout, you can plant most of them in pots. The pots would need to be large. For potatoes you would need something quite large since they are going to grow under the surface and will need plenty of room.

I do not know this lady, but she lives in the same part of the US as we do. Her aprons are a fun addition. :-)





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Looking Back - Favorite Kitchen Things – Electric Egg Cooker

I am going to try cutting back on my posts here at least for awhile. Because of that I will be trying to post my mid-week posts all on Wednesday and they will vary widely. There will still be photo posts but not every week any more, but they will be interspersed with other things. We have had a lot of thunder storm days this spring when I am off the computer entirely. This may not continue, but at present responsibilities with my parents and other things we desire to do means that I have more things to think about and juggle. For today I'm reposting a review of a kitchen gadget. :-)

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Five years on and I'm still using this same cooker. I have looked at buying a stainless steel model for health purposes (no plastic leaching), but so far have not done that. It is perhaps not quite as accurate as it used to be, but I can still guess on the water amounts close enough. :-)
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This little electric egg cooker was given to me by my Texas sister-in-law.  This one is called an EggGenie™.  It is very handy and since it uses a minimal amount of water for cooking boiled eggs (really steamed), it also does not waste water – something we think about quite a bit in Texas these days (and should think of more).

Although I’m not exactly thrilled to cook my eggs in a plastic cooker, this is still one of my favorite kitchen appliances.  The electric egg cookers my mom had when I was growing up all involved aluminum in their construction – something I want to avoid.  This one is plastic and stainless steel.  I don’t make boiled eggs terribly often, so it isn’t like I use it all the time.

It can cook up to 7 eggs at once.  The measuring cup that came with it gives exact amounts of water for the level of done-ness for various numbers of eggs.  It’s pretty accurate if you don’t leave the eggs sitting in the cooker too long after turning it off.  Ahem! :-)



Also, before cooking the eggs, you have to poke a little hole in the large end of each egg.  There is a sharp pin inside the cooker for this purpose.  It usually works fine, but occasionally there is that weak shelled egg or something goes wrong and then there’s an clean up job to deal with. :-/  The purpose in the hole is to allow the air to escape from the little sealed chamber at the large end of the egg.  If you don’t do this the egg can crack and even leak during cooking.  Apparently this is more of a problem when steaming eggs.

One complaint with this model is that it doesn’t have an on/off switch.  When you plug it in, it’s on.  So, I have to remember not to plug it in before it’s ready to go – something I forget regularly.  It also doesn’t have a very loud buzzer to let you know when it’s done, and it does not go off till you come and unplug it – really Not Good!

Nevertheless, I’ve used it and found it very handy since I can get the eggs cooking and then tend to other things without giving them much more thought – except to turn them off and rather promptly remove them. :-)

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First published in March 2014.

Sew Happy Friday - Hanging Kitchen Towel Tutorials

Here are two tutorials for those kitchen hand towels that have a hanging tab at the top which folds over and buttons. I am giving you two different ones because each lady covers some aspect that the other didn't go into thoroughly enough, in my opinion. Between the two you should be able to get the whole picture quite nicely, plus there are two different options for the top part. :-)

Below is the tutorial from the Fat Quarter Shop, and here is the link to get the pattern for the hanging fold over part.



Below is the tutorial from Vanessa, the Crafty Gemini, and here is the link to her pattern for the hanging fold over part.

A Question to Ponder: Do you recognize the power of Satan in people’s lives?

Originally posted Jan. 2012. Edited.



I was working in the kitchen a little while ago, and as I was putting something in the fridge my eye fell on the prayer card we got this week from a missionary to Mexico. There is a verse on it, or rather the first part of a verse - Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God…

I was struck by the marvelous thought of being turned from the power of Satan unto God. This is a wonderful and amazing thing, and in light of things we heard the brother say, it is happening there in Mexico.

But, as my mind meandered along this train of thought, I asked myself in a vague way why it is that American Christians don’t grasp the enormity of being turned from the power of Satan to God for the people around them in their own country and neighborhood. I hope that many see the need for this transformation from the power of Satan to God for people in foreign countries, but why not for the people next door and at the super market and the craft store and at soccer practice, etc.? The thought that came to me was that it is probably because too many of the believers in the U.S. are so immersed in the culture that they fail to see the many things that are really the power of Satan! They don’t see the need for others to be turned from those things because they themselves are following those things or enjoying them also.

Think about it –

How many Christians read books, play games or watch movies and T.V. shows that glamorize death and killing, witchcraft and other satanic things? Yes, I mean Harry Potter, Twilight and other vampire stories, Lord of the Rings, zombies, fairies, Halloween, Warcraft, Game of Thrones, Mafia based games, etc.

How many Christians are addicted to pornography? How many overlook “soft pornography” as incidental or even normal? Do you realize that what is considered “OK” today in television, advertisements, movies, etc. would have been considered pornography not that very long ago? And, in this vein, how many Christian women are addicted to romance novels, even the ones of the grubbier type? (You don’t believe that’s wrong?  I read one secular writer who classed the reaction that women get from reading those stories as a form of sexual arousal. Think carefully and prayerfully, sister. Also see for yourself how easy it is to stop reading them – or to get your friend to stop reading them. That’s a challenge. I dare you.)

How many Christians listen to music that has words, terminology, ideology, etc. that is wicked or lewd or even satanic?

How many Christians participate in events, listen to music, or read things that include defaming of the name of Jesus Christ, blasphemy of God, and ridicule of Christianity, and enjoy it?

How many Christians think that evolution is true, or at least partly true and thus that the Bible is lying in the first part of Genesis and other passages?

How many Christians are caught up in the covetousness of materialism and “the American dream”? How many of us think that if we could just get this or that we would be “happy”? How many assume that we are entitled to certain things in life such as a house, a job, a car, a spouse, kids, fashionable clothes, the newest technological gadget, etc.? You don’t think you’re entitled? Let someone tell you that you can’t have those things and see how you feel. (Ouch. Yes, that hurts because it’s such a “normal” part of American culture. But God says, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: Colossians 3:5 [Emphasis added])

I could go on, but I think I’ll stop there.

Can you see how hardened we often are to the bondage that people are in? We miss the fact that so many around us need to be turned from the power of Satan to God because we’ve allowed ourselves to accept the thinking that all these things are “normal”. We’ve allowed ourselves to believe that so many things are not “evil” because it isn't “politically correct” or “nice” to think so; or, even worse, because we enjoy them ourselves. We’ve been propagandized to think things are “OK” that really are the power of Satan in people’s lives!

What do you think? Can you see ways in which U.S. Christians (or Christians in other countries) have been affected in their thinking, making them blind to the power of Satan in the lives of people around them, and blind to how they have been influenced by it themselves?

The entire verse that I mentioned above says, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Acts 26:18

What a wonderful verse! What amazing love and power! How we need to get our vision back for the needy world around us that needs to be turned unto God and light and be delivered from the power of Satan and darkness!

Sew Happy Friday - Potluck Bowl Covers Tutorial Link

Photo property of Lindsay Wilkes at The Cottage Mama.

Here is a link to a tutorial for some cute bowl covers.  You can use this for transporting food, but they can also be used in your own kitchen.  How fun to have something that matches your own decor. :-)

Pruple Potluck Bowl Covers

I think these would look nice in my kitchen made up with cheerful strawberry fabric, or red with white polka dots. :-)

Would you use these kind of covers?

Australian Memories – Working Together

 

With my sister-in-law.  :-) 

Note: I took my own apron along. 
“Have apron, will travel.”  :-D

My dad and brother making salsa.

Adding liners to the curtains to reduce heat.  It really helped!
The weather was quite hot part of the time we were there.

My nephew helping get breakfast.  :-)

Sew Happy Saturday – A Couple of Cute Potholder Tutorials

 

I think these potholders are both really cute.  I like the heart one better, but it crossed my mind that it might be made into a strawberry to go in my kitchen. :-)  Hmmm…

Round Potholder Tutorial

Heart Potholder Tutorial

Sew Happy Saturday – Vintage Handwork Recycled Into An Apron

 

Here is a cute little apron that a friend of mine has hanging in her kitchen.

This apron was made using a vintage embroidered dresser scarf/table runner that had been spoiled by at least one stain.  The lady who made this cut the dresser scarf up, pieced it together avoiding or covering the stains, added a few embellishments (crocheted butterflies – which might be covering spots), and added ties.  Isn’t it a cute way to use up an old marred piece?  Really the embroidery on it is too beautiful to throw away, so this was a great way to recycle it.  My friend thought it too pretty to wear, so she made this sweet arrangement including a vintage crocheted potholder, a wooden spoon, and an old family recipe for biscuits. :-)

Do you have a piece of vintage embroidery or handwork that has been marred with a stain?  Maybe you could figure out a way to transform it into something “new”.  It’s a great way to shop your own stuff.  I have an old pillowcase with some lovely embroidery along the edge that I’d like to recycle into another project – a sofa cushion cover, worked into a quilt or garment…something.  If I get it done I’ll try to remember to post about it. :-)

Apron Patterns

 

My mom in her old kitchen back in Tennessee.

One of the important services that aprons provide is to protect our clothing.  This is a matter of economy for those of us who do a lot of our own cooking. 

Here are some apron patterns for those who might like to make their own.  When you make an apron think of using heavier cotton fabric, or perhaps lining the apron.  This keeps splatters from soaking through, or at least gives you the time you need to pull the apron off if you get a bad splash.  I don’t know how easy it would be to line some of the aprons linked below.  Some of the fuller skirt patterns may not need it simply because the added fullness acts as an extra barrier.

By the way, watch SewingPatterns.com for sales.  They offer their patterns at significant discounts sometimes.  Sign up for their email to find out when the brand you are looking for is on sale.  Plus, they offer downloads of patterns, which could be really helpful to our overseas readers.  I’ve never used that method myself, but it might be worth a try.

Easy

This pattern looks quite easy and also includes some cute kitchen accessories – a table runner and placemats.

A super simple pattern from the “for Dummies” series – mother/daughter.  This is very similar to the style that most of ours are made in.

These look like fairly easy ones – mother/daughter.

Learning to sew for little girls – skirts, aprons and hot pads.

Cute mother/daughter and dolly aprons.

Also, sew your own kitchen accessories.

Dining room accessories.

Medium to Hard

A variety of easy to medium aprons in slim to full styles.  There’s a garden apron in this one.

More modern looking mother/daughter set.

Quite modern.  The styles are simple, but the detail work pushes them into this category as I think they’d be harder to make.

Modern, detail intensive half aprons.

Both everyday and “costume” styles.

Cute novelty half aprons – mother/daughter.

Playful novelty aprons for kids.

A full artists apron. This one will really cover you up! If you need to wear slacks for something such as gardening, but you still want to be modestly covered around the hips and upper legs, this apron might be a good option.

Vintage style

’60s – ‘70s style? 

Ruffled and full plus interesting details.

Nice assortment of styles here.  I like these.

‘30s style aprons.

This collection may be my favorite so far. 

Favorite Kitchen Things – Erasable Boards

 

Erasable white boards are useful additions to the kitchen.  They can be used for a variety of things – lists, chores, reminders, prayer requests, praises, memory verses, phone numbers, etc.  I have the one pictured above hanging where I will see it often and have used it to post  scripture.  It’s empty now, but I’ve thought about putting names of people I especially want to remember in prayer up there.

I also have one on the fridge that has reminders of things that need to be done – either on a repeated basis or things that are more urgent than my regular “To Do List”.  It also sports a few doodles and decorations. :-)

I got the idea of a kitchen white board from my dad who put this one up in my Mom’s kitchen years ago:

Note: Beriberi in this case is referring to an Ethiopian spice blend, not the disease, just in case you wondered. :-)

Clearing Out the Fridge

It is a temptation to put this post in the “Laying Aside Weights” series, but since it really doesn’t have to do with the theme of that specifically, I suppose it will be better to let it stand alone.

The clutter in my fridge is not exactly a weight, although maybe some people would view it as such.  It can be a nuisance, but mostly it’s wasted space.  It’s cleaned out pretty well now, but the truth of the matter is that it will probably get bad again eventually.  Coming from a long line of fridge packers…well, at least two generations…I don’t see myself bucking my genes on this one. ;-) 

Not that I wouldn’t like to improve, and I actually think I have some. My mom, in her own right, has improved some to start with and I’ve tried to go a little farther. Neither of us have, nor desire, the “knack” my Gramma had of filling a fridge (and its freezer) with myriads of little plastic containers holding a tablespoon of this or that.  I can’t speak so well for our freezers, though we do make the effort to control them from time to time.  When you opened Gramma’s freezer it was a good idea to stand back.  Just the act of opening the door was likely to dislodge something that was being held in by the mere presence of the door.  Trying to extract something could even start a small avalanche.  Mom’s freezer and my freezer are sometimes not much better.  Sigh.

But, to get down to the point --

I decided it was high time to get the fridge cleared out of excess stuff.  Though I do try to date my leftovers to keep them from getting too old, I still sometimes have something that gets missed in the shuffle.  The bulk of my excess, however, is the result of opening too many jars of pickles, pushing untasty jams and sauces to the side because I can’t make myself pitch them, and saving “useful” things that are not as perishable as most foods – such as bacon grease.  Ahem.  (This is the down side of being a bit too paranoid about wastefulness, by the way.  There are two sides to that coin.)

I found at least 4 containers containing some amount of bacon grease in the fridge (I think it was five, but I’m not sure).  Yeah.  That’s a lot of old dabs of bacon grease, considering how seldom I cook bacon from raw and thus have excess to put away.  And, don’t ask me how many there are still in there because, though I discarded some, I added another one the other day. 

You see, the very best corn bread recipe I have calls for bacon grease (no wonder it’s so good, right?), so I can’t bear to discard it thinking about that delicious corn bread.  The thing is, though – I seldom, seldom make corn bread!  (Hmm….this looks suspiciously like “weight” thinking to me.  Something that does need to be laid aside!)  Plus, green beans and eggs are so good fried in bacon grease….

Well, Friday morning is the day our garbage is collected, so Thursday is a good day to do a job like this.  In an effort to acknowledge my limitations and not overdo, I made the decision to not clean the fridge at all, but only clear out the items that had no future.  I also decided not to try to do the fridge and its freezer on the same day.  (We also have a chest freezer, which needs to be defrosted, but it’s not quite so cluttered with useless things as the fridge freezer was – I think.)

If you are a “normal”, energetic, healthy, strong woman (I don’t know many, but there must be some), then you might think this is a bad plan and method and that it would be better to do the whole thing in “one fell swoop” as Gramma would’ve said (only not about the fridge).  If you have a chronic health problem, are often overly busy, have kids, homeschool, have hormones or any number of other things that tend to make women tired and run down, I suspect you will see the point in this plan. :-)  Anyway, it worked for me.

On the Thursday in question I cleared out the fridge, saving the cleaning for later (apparently much later).  Here is what it looked like --

Before:

Note the bag of (smelly) garlic on the top shelf – some of it is now growing in my dad’s garden.
You can just see a gallon size jar of pickles behind the milk and orange juice.  There were two jugs back there actually – one almost full of pickles that had the “lovely” flavor of vinegar, garlic and plastic.  (Not a commonly accepted flavor of pickles, but the result of a company switching from glass to plastic jars.)  There was also a glass gallon jar half full of kimchee.  Now, I like kimchee, but I couldn’t eat this kind because it didn’t agree with my finicky stomach.  My parents and I made the kimchee together, but it ended up in my fridge.  Now it’s at my parents’ house.

After:

Notice how you can actually see the light on the top shelf now.  That is because the multiple layers of stuff have been reduced!  Also, there’s a big, almost empty space on the second shelf.  The parmesan cheese has been moved to an upright position on the bottom shelf.  On the left of the bottom shelf is an unopened 2 lb. package of cheddar that expired in June or July – of last year.  Yeah.  Embarrassment, horror, disgust (at the waste), you name it.  There were white specks all over it which I thought to be mold, but I decided to open it anyway.  To my surprise and relief, it was still fine – NOT rotten!  The specks were the salt coming out apparently.  So we went ahead and ate it. ;-)  (This was some weeks ago and we are still alive, so YES, it really was safe, oh doubters.) :-)

The door doesn’t look a lot improved because I moved some of the odds and ends jars that were crowding the inside to the spaces I opened up in the door.

I actually didn’t take the “after” picture till a couple of days, so there are a few other changes as well, but you get the idea.  I think it’s actually even more empty now, and since I did this job in February, I seem to be keeping it better for at least awhile!  Not that I think a fridge should be empty.  When I have legitimate things to keep I’m fine with it, but the excess of things that were past usefulness was the problem.  Also, having the fridge more empty is handy because I can store leftovers right in the pan I will reheat them in, which saves on dish washing! :-)

To my shame, I have to admit that I totally forgot the drawers till later!  Ack.  I’m not sure I would’ve wanted to “share” them with you anyway. ;-)

Ok, I can’t believe I could write that much about cleaning out the fridge!  Looks like the freezer part should wait till another time.  Too bad, the story about…..well, you’ll have wait and see. ;-)  (We had “wait and see” a lot for dessert when I was a kid.  I so disliked that answer!)

Home Keeping Links - Simple Home Improvements

Apple Dumplings, by George Leslie Dunlop

It’s been awhile since I did a link post, so here is one for you today.  These relate to making your house a more pleasant place, but don’t deal exclusively with the kitchen.  As always, I put a disclaimer on my links.

New Uses for Mismatched Dishes – What to do with some of the odd cooking and dining items that don’t match or don’t work in your kitchen?

Old Ladder = Kitchen Shelving Solution – If you have room for more shelving, but don’t want to spend the money on new cabinets, here’s a solution that might just tide you over till you can find something else.  Maybe you’ll like it so well you’ll just go with it.  Now to find an old wooden ladder…

14 Living and Dining Room Makeovers – Makeovers interest me, though sometimes I honestly think that the “before” picture is better than the “after” when the designer happens to have wild tastes. (Seriously, who would  paint a bedroom vivid, excitable orange? People are supposed to rest there.)  These particular re-dos I found to be pretty much improvements and there are some good pointers about painting colors on the walls and/or furniture to make a room look more spacious or friendly. Paint can be an easy fix, especially if you have friends that enjoy painting and are willing to help.  (Trade help if you need to.)

From OK to Great with A Little Paint (and other changes) Before and After – Here is a kitchen makeover that shows pretty drastically what some paint and a few changes can do for a kitchen without re-doing the whole thing!  I’m all for simple changes that make a big improvement.  As the Mexicans say, “Cheap, pretty and good”.  That’s the way to go.  :-)   This is quite inspiring to me as I have a very brown kitchen, thanks to the cupboards and paneling. 

By the way, you may be able to dress up your dishwasher without ordering an expensive new front for it.  You might consider getting a large decorative magnet to cover the front. (Test the front of your dishwasher with a magnet first to make sure it will hold one.)  This catalog store carries an assortment of magnetic dishwasher covers at reasonable prices (compared to others I found).  I have ordered two from them – one for myself and one for my sister-in-law.  We were both pleased with the results.  Do be sure to measure you dishwasher first, though, so you order the right size.  My husband did have to trim about a 1/4” off of the one I got so that it would fit my dishwasher without being “scraped” off whenever I opened it.  If your dishwasher is slightly too small, try ordering one that does not have an edge border so that it can be trimmed without distorting the picture.

Before:

After:

Another aspect of these home decorating ideas that I find challenging to think about is to use things that I already have to make our house more  pleasant.  In the decluttering process that I’ve been working on, I not only want to get rid of useless and excess things, I’d also like to find things that are not being put to good use and use them to improve our rooms.  I have already worked on this some.  This would be a good focus for a future post perhaps. :-)

The thousand word project: Many Hands

Dad In the Kitchen – A Tribute… More or Less :-)

My dad with a jar of beet pickles he concocted when we lived in Tennessee.

When I was a kid, Daddy’s cooking always seemed a little like Russian roulette.  Sometimes you got something really good, sometimes you got something really awful; and there was usually nothing that was in between – certainly nothing ordinary.  He was a “fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants” cook, so he never, or seldom, had a recipe for what he made.  Sometimes he could remember how he made it, sort of; but other times he could not.  If it was really good we were usually pretty sorry about this.  If it was really awful we were glad. :-)  But, either way, it was always an adventure to eat what he made.

His green herb sauce was one of his all time successes.  It was excellent.  It was one of those things that, if he had had the money and desire, he probably could have marketed it.  It was delicious served with meat, and I’m sure it would have made an excellent creamy dressing mixed with mayonnaise and sour cream.  He did write down what he put in it, but not how much, and since he gleaned a lot of random things from the interesting garden we had that year, we’ve probably never had quite that same mixture since.

He has also made some very notable lime marmalade, some tasty “stir-fried” vegetables, quite good pickles, deep fried goodies of various types, and so forth.  He was famous (to us) for his seasoned salt, which he did manage to make write down, and make more than. :-)  His all time “interesting” dish, in my opinion, was probably his wild day lily soup.  It tasted pretty good, but it was just plain weird, especially if one of the ants he missed while cleaning the flowers ended up in your bowl!

Daddy’s shark stew, however, would have destroyed the reputation of any chef. ;-)  If I remember correctly, the shark actually started its culinary career in the form of baked steaks, which were less than popular. This was due to the weird taste which may have been mostly the shark; though I at that age I was also suspicious of the curious sauce he put on it.  In an effort to make it into something more palatable, my dad converted the leftovers into stew, which was even less popular!  In fact, it was so awful that even he didn’t want to finish it. That’s saying something since he’s enjoyed some pretty weird stuff in his time!  The stew was put in the freezer “for future reference” and it stayed there until it was later removed and buried under the roses! :-)

Another of his noted failures was the time he decided to make “bologna sandwich spread” with hot dogs instead of the pickled ring bologna it’s usually made with.  Well, hot dogs don’t have the flavor of ring bologna, as he discovered.  That sandwich spread pretty much tasted like mayonnaise and pickle relish and whatever else he put in it for seasoning. :-)

I have to give my dad credit, though.  He did teach me some things about cooking.  Mom always called on him to finish spicing the curry because he has a knack for that type of thing.  So, I learned to use herbs and spices in my cooking more from him than from Mom.   In fact, not long ago I managed to rescue a failure of my own in the line of a chicken and pasta dish by using some of the seasoning ideas he taught me.

Daddy has always been inclined to garnish dishes too, even dishes that Mom prepared.  His colorful additions to everything from salads to desserts were an inspiration.  Sometimes I remember thinking he’d gone too far, but after all, he had fun doing it.  And, we usually weren’t forced to eat the garnishments if we didn’t want to (as in the case of wild day lilies, though they are actually edible). [Photo: A salad my dad helped make and garnish with pickled beets or turnips and artichoke hearts.]

Some dads solve the problem of needing to cook by making a telephone call for delivery or take out.  But, Daddy wasn’t inclined to resort to “take out”, especially pizza delivery, since we had plenty of ingredients in the freezer, fridge, pantry and cupboards.  Sometimes we did go out to eat in an extremity, but I don’t remember ever having pizza delivered when I was growing up, unless it was at the instigation of a guest who was also paying. ;-)  It was not considered a good option on our budget, plus Daddy wasn’t much impressed with the quality of that type of pizza.  I suppose he figured he could make something more nourishing himself.   Maybe not tastier, but definitely more nourishing.  :-)

Before I was old enough to “man” the kitchen in an emergency, if Mom couldn’t cook, Daddy “came up with something”.  Usually, though, his cooking adventures were just that – adventures for the sheer fun of it!  He seemed to really enjoy just inventing something and then watching us eat it, whether we wanted to or not. :-)

This is another photo of the salad pictured above along with some absolutely delicious grilled chicken that he made. The chicken was marinated and it was superb.

In recent years Daddy has become very adept at grilling, but he hasn’t been so inclined to cook.  He has roasted coffee, made a few salads and refrigerator pickles, helped with the grunt work for our canning, and prepared a few sauces and dressings, but the larger than life items have fallen by the wayside.  The demands of running his own business, his interest in writing, and more recently his yard and gardening projects have overshadowed his occasional adventures in the kitchen.  We’ve probably missed out on some great things because of that, but we’ve lost some great family legends too.  You know…, the kind that begin, “Do you remember that awful ____________ that Daddy made…” :-)

Pickled beets and eggs that my dad and mom made together.  They were delicious! :-)

A Few of My Favorite Kitchen Things – the Steamer Pot

Every kitchen needs some good tools that really work or help make work easier. I am going to try to give you some reviews on various items that I have found to be especially useful in real life. I say, “in real life” because before I was married I collected a lot of things for my hope chest – some of those things proved useful to me once I started keeping house myself. Some did not. In fact, I got rid of some things long before I ever married because I could see that they weren’t worth carrying back and forth across the country as much as my family moved. Either I didn’t figure I’d use them, or I figured I’d find something when I needed it.

If you already have a kitchen of your own, or if it’s a dream for someday when you have your own home to keep, maybe these posts will give you some ideas about what is useful and what is not. Not everyone has the same needs, but at least you may get some idea as to whether you could use a particular item.

I would call this a steamer-stew pot combination. It is stainless steel (with no non-stick coating). As you can see in the picture, the stew pot part is not invaded by the steamer part, which sits only slightly nested into the bottom. This actually makes it more useful.

We received this as a wedding gift from some friends and it is one of my favorite kitchen tools. At the time that I put it on our registry (we were only registered at Amazon.com), I think that I didn’t really anticipate using the steamer part much since I wasn’t fond of steaming vegetables. I don’t remember if it was the only model that had the size and type of pot that I wanted at the time or what. I just knew I needed a large stew pot for making soups, stews, roasts, etc. for larger groups. Since there are six adults when my family here are all eating together, this is kind of necessary for my kitchen. If I had to get a steamer with it, well, that was OK too.

I used the pot for stews and stove top cooked roasts several times and it turned out to be a good pot. Then I made a great discovery. I could cook meat (and potatoes) in the bottom of the pan and steam the vegetables in the steamer part all at once, thus getting the whole meal cooked on one burner! (Plus it added flavor to the veggies and vice versa.) Wow. What a great idea! :-) That was a real plus.

Then last spring we had an abundance of greens (that was before the real drought hit Central Texas). I needed to help out by processing them for later use since there was too much to eat at the time and the weather was getting hot (not good for most greens). Back in the day when my family still used a microwave, Mom used to blanch greens for freezing by putting them in the freezer bags and putting them in the microwave for some seconds till they got warm and started to wilt. Since we no longer use microwaves, it occurred to me that maybe I could just steam the greens in my steamer and then put them in bags and freeze them. This sounded a lot better than the traditional dipping method.

Well, it worked great! Bringing the water to a boil first, I’d put a batch of greens in and let them steam for a few minutes on one side then turn them over with tongs and let them steam on the other side briefly. Then I carefully put two servings of greens into each bag, let them finish cooling, labeled them and put them in the freezer. I could do several batches of greens with the same batch of water. It turned out beautifully. :-)

(Side Note: The rich broth left in the pan after this is done can be used as a soup base or an “energy drink”. There are a lot of nutrients there, as the color indicates.)

So, a good combination stew pot-steamer is a very useful tool if you:

- cook for larger groups.

- like to conserve energy.

- process large quantities of greens or other vegetables that could be steamed before freezing.

We have used this pot to make large amounts of East African style tea. :-) A pot like this is also handy for canning things like jams or jellies.

Cons -

The only problem I’ve had with this particular model is that the handle on the lid, which is metal, gets hot to the touch. I have to be careful to use a hot pad or over mitt whenever I’m cooking in it. However, I think I can put the lower pot with the lid on it in the oven because all the parts are stainless steel or glass, which could be useful at some time.

Adding Color to the Kitchen

Here is my mom brightening up her former kitchen (in Tennessee) with her smile and apron. :-)

You can add color to your kitchen by making some colorful aprons to wear and/or hang on the wall, or by dressing up some of your towels with ribbon or fabric.  Here are some links to help.

French Country Apron and Matching Headscarf

Tea Time Appliqué Half Apron

Fabric Trimmed Towels

Ribbon Trimmed Towel

Ribbon Accented Tea Towels – Wouldn’t this look cute with some fruit themed fabric between the rows of ribbon.  I might try this if I can find a good price on plain tea towels.

Here are some cute oven mitts too.

There are lots of possibilities with these patterns/ideas.  You can use any cotton print or color that would go with your kitchen.  Plus, these would make some cute gifts – maybe something quick for Mother’s Day. :-)

Here are some of our homemade aprons hanging in the kitchen where we lived in Arizona. :-)  I can see at least four different aprons there.  I love the homey look of aprons hanging in the kitchen, whether they are used or not.  I have a friend who pinned an antique apron on a wall of her kitchen just for decoration.