Harvest Time in Illinois

Harvest time is over for our kitchen gardens but the harvest of the corn and soybean crops is just begining

This has been a very, very wet and cold summer. The corn needs heat to develop properly and hopefully it's gotten enough. You would be shocked if you knew just how much corn we produce in this state. It's an awesome site to watch the harvest. Here is a photo from a couple of years ago. The corn is being offloaded at the edge of the field. It will be transported to a grain elevator where it will be stored.



Here's a big rig driving through the open field. It's quite a sight.



Of course you realize that the American heartland literally feeds the world and the farmer's plant in every possible nook and cranny. I've seen corn or soybean planted in twisting patterns around telephone poles or any other fixed feature. They plant every possible seed in every possible place.

The fall has been very rainy. We're all searching for plans for an ark. The rain will delay the harvest. The corn can only be harvested when it's moisture content is low. If you put high moisture corn in a grain elevator it will simply mold and rot. The grain elevators and silos all have fans that remove any moist air when the corn is stored.

Here's a photo from earlier this week.



It was a very grey day but at least it wasn't raining. The farmer took the opportunity to harvest some of the field. This very small acreage is tucked between a housing subdivision and a "lifestyle" mall. Yes, our community has an identity problem. Are we rural or are we chic? Heck, we're both!

Just behind the trucks and harvester you'll see the back of the mall buildings. Just a short distance to the right is this:



Yes!!! Our very own Coach handbag store. I've only been in there once. I was a bit intimidated because I certainly don't have the wardrobe that would be appropriate for walking into a Coach store, but the staff was very nice and friendly. They didn't seem to give a hoot if I was wearing jeans with a few paint stains.

I'l have to admit to some serious sticker shock.

Anyway, I just thought you might like a peek into what's involved in getting in the crop. This is just a small snapshot.

Not Your Grandma's Granny Square

These days I'm trying to curb my habit of buying magazine. They're dropping like flies so perhaps everyone is being more selective about how they spend their "magazine cash".

As far as the crafty/cooking magazines, they must have more than one interesting project in order for me to spring for the 5 bucks (or more). I'm shocked that some of the specialty publications, for Halloween or Christmas, are running $14.00!

I'm always impressed with Interweave's Crochet magazine. Thankfully for my wallet, it's only published 4 times a year. The latest issues had something that called to me, unfortunately we were facing a $500 car repair so I slipped the issue back on the rack and called it a day.

I kept thinking about how beautiful the project was and when I found the 40% off any item coupon in the Sunday paper I returned and snatched the last copy up.

It seems I'm not alone in my love for this afghan. You remember afghans, those Brady Bunch orange, brown and yellow throws in undulating waves, or the multi-colored Granny squares.

I know many, many families that had at least ONE grandmother who crocheted like a madwoman so that each grandchild could have their own afghan on their wedding day. Likewise those baby afghans for the baby shower.

No matter if they're colorscapes from the past, they are cherished and loved because of who made them and the thought behind grandma-made afghans.

Enter the Not-Your-Grandma's-Granny-Square afghan. That's not the official name but that's how I refer to it.


Photo of Interweave Crochet project, Winter 2009.

I'm in love with this afghan. The colors are updated and the design is a modern twist on the granny square. It's a large project but I'm determined. I crochet every evening while I'm watching (listening actually) to TV with the Farmer.

It's called the Moorish Mosaic, which is the perfect name because it's reminiscent of Moorish tiles.


Love the vintage metal chair. Someone had fun styling this photo.

I love the fact that even though each motif is the same pattern, they are rendered different by the mix of colors. This color scheme is terrific but I might tweak it just a bit to fit into the decor of my bedroom.

Do you crochet? Do you have a wonderful project that's calling to you? We all need one because............. winter is approaching!

It's Time to Return

In my conversations about books many of you have mentioned libraries. The truth is I've been buying books and have accumulated perhaps 1,000, that are on shelves in our in-home library or tucked in bookcases through the house.

Realistically there are only a few that I will eventually re-read. Although I'm not ready to part with them just yet, I've decided that I cannot continue to "grow-the-book" problem.

Yesterday on my rounds of various errands, spurred by your inspiration, I got one of these:



Sorry for the blurry picture. It's a library card. My first in 15 years! The last card I had was orange and had a metal tag attached to it. Do you remember those?

Unbeknowst to me, I've missed the library and things have certainly changed. When we first moved into this community the library was housed in a small storefront on Main Street. The floors were wooden and I loved the sound of footsteps on that wood. They still had the old fashioned card catalog cases. I saw some for sale at the local antique shop, perhaps they're the same ones.

A new library was built and I'm embarassed to say I've never been inside. It's very modern and beautiful. There's a reading area with a fireplace and a little coffee shop area. I can't imagine the librarians of my childhood allowing coffee near their books.

I came away with this stack, since I'm in one of those ravenous reading modes.



The Glass Castle has been recommended by many of you and I started reading last night. So far it's interesting although the writing seems a little flat to me. We'll see how it proceeds.

The other book is Mockingbird, which is the story of Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. I've always felt very deprived that she only wrote one book. What else could have come from her mind and her typewriter? We'll never know.

There's another book for my creative side. It's Vogue's collection of crochet stitches. Perhaps I'll find a wonderful design and create a scarf.

Thanks to all who planted the library seed in the back of my mind. It will save my pocketbook and relieve my shelves of any further weight.

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

I'm very grateful that so many staffers turn up for this meeting. It's not required attendance and we all know how boring staff meetings can be. The Farmer and I do our best to keep things interesting, what with the hornet and fires it seems we are attempting to reenact the plagues and pestilences of the Bible.

This morning I have some mini cinnamon Danish rolls. They're terrible. Seriously. Take one if you wish but they're basically empty calories, empty of taste and texture. The Other Mother got them from the bakery department of the local food store. I'm not even going to include a photo. That's how bad they are.

None of their baked goods resemble the real baked goods from the real bakeries of my childhood. The Schlachta's would rise at 3 in the morning to start the baking process for their shop on 5th Avenue. I'll never forget the taste and texture of their wonderful Danish rolls. The fresh loaves of bread would be lined up on racks in their front window, inviting us inside to experience the sights and smells.

I can't even think of a real bakery anywhere in the area. I know there's one out in Sycamore.

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In the absence of delicious baked goods, I'll provide a little eye candy.



This was taken at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve. It's quite surprising to see this mound rising from the flat, corn covered landscape. It's not a manmade mound but a natural deposit left over from the ice age.

Here's what the Forest Preserve District website says about the mound:

"Johnson's Mound is a heavily wooded classic example of a stratified gravel hill known as a "kame", which was deposited by glacial ice and water some 10,000 years ago. This kame is a prominent feature on our mid-county landscape, rising 50 feet above the surrounding tributaries of Blackberry Creek and the glacial outwash plain. "

Fifty feet!!! That's a mountain in these parts. And Jenni, you're correct, we're not as flat as Kansas. We're not as flat as southeastern Missouri either. There are definitely different levels of flatness.

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Ang - I'm sorry I didn't respond whether I was going to be at the Pumpkin Fest. I was trying up to the last minute to make that happen, but it wasn't to be this year. I swear we're going to meet up sooner or later. You too Heidi!!!

Kate, one of my rural readers has posed a question that perhaps one of you can answer. She's finding that soon after her barn cat gives birth, some of the kittens are being killed. She hasn't found anything on the internet that seems to answer the puzzle. I am thinking it's perhaps a raccoon that is gaining entry into the barn. Unfortunately, the number one culprit is usually the tomcat.

Does anyone know about this phenomenon? It's sad to find those newborn kittens in such a state and any information would be greatly appreciate.

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Last year for my birthday our daughter gifted me with a subscription to Netflix. I am in love with Netflix. Not only because they send us movies really fast but they save me from terminal boredom during football season. We have three TV's in this house. The Farmer ties one up with sports, the Other Mother watches hers in her sitting room and our son's TV is not hooked up. As you can surmise, that leaves me high and dry in the television watching departments.

Netflix to the rescue! I have my computer set up in my sewing studio and Netflix offers movies to watch instantly on your computer. I've been watching documentaries while I sew. It's great company for me and I'm learning a lot. One of the first documentaries was a PBS show about the Shaker movement. It was very interesting and shortly thereafter I found a Shaker cookbook at Goodwill for 89 cents. I'm going to try some of these recipes. I'll let you know how they turn out.

I've also watched documentaries on natural artist Andy Goldsworthy, "Rivers and Tides", one on blind Tibetan children climbing a Himalayan peak. The most interesting documentary was about two widows of September 11th who turned their tragedy into a mission to help widows in Afghanistan. It was very moving. It's called Beyond Belief and I highly recommend it.

The women set up a non-profit organization that provides education and ways of making a living for these women. I often suggest charities and this is a good one. It's called Beyond the 11th

Note: No, Netflix didn't pay me to say this, although I wish they would! HA.

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I've been very busy here and to prove it I've updated my shop with twenty new APRONS, twenty new WALLETS, old fashioned COTTON DISHCLOTHS, and something new..... hand crocheted SCARVES.

There's one Halloween apron that can be shipped next day.



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Thanks for taking time from your busy day to visit with me. I really appreciate the company!

Now, tell me what you've been up to.

The View from the Garret

The healing continues. The follow-up examination at my doctor's office confirms the fact that so far, all is well. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes. I appreciate it.

I thought that this morning you might like to take a look out of my garret window. Well, it's not exactly a garret, it's my sewing studio which is on the second floor. It's always nice view while I'm working. I appreciate the diversity of weather and nature, always changing, always interesting. I actually love it when I see large looming storm clouds. It's so interesting and exotic.

Here's one of the three sunset maple trees at the southwest corner of the house. They are especially colorful this year.



Here's the view looking to the southeast.



Fall in the midwest can be a dramatic show. It depends upon certain conditions, but I'm not exactly sure what they are, probably moisture and temperature changes. Our fall show is every bit as impressive as New England but the difference is that our landscape is flat, which doesn't allow the sweeping, rolling panoramas that they enjoy.

The most magical fall in my memory was the year my uncle died. We had his body transported to rural Tennessee where our family cemetery is located. We all drove in a convoy and the display through Kentucky and Tennessee was one of the wonders of the world. Amazing! I felt that nature was sending him off with a bang.

I'm hoping that my European friends can confirm or debunk something that I've heard - that the trees in Europe do not change colors in the fall. Is that the case? I think it would be very hard for me to experience fall without the burst of color. For me, fall is summer going out in a blaze of glory.

Ang - I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you about Pumpkin Fest. I was sure I'd be able to make it and meet up with you but with the burns, it's not going to be possible! I swear, we're going to meet up sometime.

Grace Strikes Again

When I was a kid my grandmother had two nicknames for me, one was Susan B. Anthony and the other was Grace. Mostly I was Susan B. The nickname Grace was reserved for the times that I did something ungraceful or got injured and usually it was a combination of both.

My childhood injuries were legendary, most involved not thinking ahead. Once I decided to hang upside down on a swing. You remember, you lean back and wrap your legs around the chain and .....WHEEEEEE, off you go, swinging upside down. Unfortunately I failed to recognize that the swing was very to the ground and there was a strip of gravel underneath. Up I went, down I came, dragging my forehead across the gravel. It hurts to think about it.

There I was, stuck with a giant scrape across my entire forehead. That was an unpleasant and embarrassing summer.

I'm also a legend in emergency rooms.

When my children were grade school I had an incident that provoked an E.R. doctor to exclaim, "How in the world did you do THIS?"

The stairs in our two-story house always seem to collect items that needed to be carried upstairs. One day it was a stack of clean towels, some school books and a pencil. I carefully stacked everything with the pencil on top. As I was ascending the stairs the pencil rolled off and I said to myself, "I'll just pick that up on the way down."

Well, I did retrieve the pencil, but not in the normal way. The pencil had landed upright on the stair tred, with the sharpened lead portion pointing UP. Yep, i stepped full force on the pencil and it broke off, leaving an inch of lead and wood in the bottom of my foot.

Yeah.....legendary.

My latest "Grace" move was not only stupid, but incredibly dangerous. I'm going to relate the incident here and expose my stupidity before the entire blogosphere in the hope that it will prevent at least one person from making the same mistake.

The Farmer has a small project he's working on and was away from the house on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, clear day and I decided to help him out by completing some of the outdoor tasks. We have two acres of lawn, bushes, trees and evergreens which means we have tons of yard waste. There's a brush pile and other dry materials that we burn in the fall.

The one pile was nice and dry but I decided to apply a very small amount of gasoline on the corner of the pile to get it started. BAD.....DANGEROUS.... STUPID MOVE.

The brush was dry and probably would have started just fine. What I didn't realize is that gasoline does not start with a nice flickering flame, it explodes. Seriously. Even the smallest amount of gasoline will produce enough fumes to create a large WHOOSH of flames.

When I lit the match, it did just that. The second stupid mistake is that I paid no attention to how the wind was blowing. The wind is always blowing in Illinois and it was blowing in my direction. DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

I instinctively threw my arms up in a defensive position, turning quickly and throwing myself on the ground. Stop, drop and roll. I realize how important it is to drum these emergency procedures into our minds. They work!!!! Your mind quickly pulls that information up and you snap into action.


Grace. This is not a Halloween costume.

The quick whoosh of the flame wasn't enough to ignite my clothing. I'm thanking God every moment for that. The underside of my forearms were burned, first and second degree. The ER nurses applied some incredible stuff that accelerates healing and today there's only one area that still needs to be bandaged. I'm left with something that resembles a bad sunburn. It could have been much worse.

Here's another stupid thing I did, as if burning myself wasn't enough. The initial pain was just a stinging sensation but I realized that the burns might be more serious than I realized, so I set off for the hospital. Halfway there the pain struck like lightning.

DO NOT DRIVE YOURSELF TO THE HOSPITAL IF YOU'RE INJURED!

Call a neighbor, or if it's a critical situation call 9-1-1.

And remember - NO GASOLINE - EVER! Gasoline only goes in engines. javascript:void(0)

But, please tell me I'm not the only dumbass in the world.

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Time for the book drawing.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society goes to........



Kat!

If I Live to be 100 goes to ......



Millicent.

Congratulations ladies. Contact me via e-mail with your addresses and I'll get the books into the mail.

How Would You Feel?

First of all, I've done something really stupid...... and dangerous. In addition, I forgot to do the drawing for the books. That means if you haven't left a comment, you can still enter your name.

I'll tell you all about my stupidity tomorrow. It's going to take me a day to find the right words that will allow me to help someone before they make the same mistake.

Today I'm going to ask you to think about how you would react in a real life situation. Here's the scenario: you're in the drive thru line at a McDonald's. Your young children are in the car with you and although the line is moving slow, you have your window rolled down. A homeless person appears and wanders along the line of cars, speaking to each driver.

What do you do?

Think about it. Make a mental note of how you would handle the situation.

Now....... read this.

ROGER

This is a very poignant story. I think we tend to de-personalize the marginalized people in our society. Roger is right, no one would choose homelessness as a lifestyle.

Unfortunately, there IS another side to this story. My sister ran a soup kitchen at a local church for many years and she stopped her volunteer work after she'd seen enough. The very people who she was trying to help victimized her once too often. Certainly no one chooses homelessness but the problems are very complicated.

EDIT: Commenter Red Shoes is correct. Some people DO choose to be homeless by virtue of the bad decisions that they make. I alluded to this when I mentioned my sister's experience. Many, many homeless people are the mentally ill who have fallen through the cracks or were released from mental institutions. Homeless children are a heartbreak. Do we provide for them, or does the act of providing perpetuate the problem into another generation? It is very complicated.

We mentored a young man who was from a very dysfunctional home. He was thrown into a homeless situation at one point in his life. Although he vowed to live a life of responsibility, he is still entwined with this family, which means he's often "rescuing" them from dire situations. It's a heartbreak that this kid (now young adult) cannot seem to practice tough love on his elders.

If you sew and would like to be involved in a project for homeless children, I'm including a link to Craft Hope. Project 5 involves making and donating quilts to go to homeless children.

CRAFT HOPE PROJECT 5

You Gotta Have Friends

Who sang that song anyway? I think it was Bette Midler.

Last night a group of my friends got together to celebrate the October birthdays. I was looking around the table, amazed at the diverse personalities and the fact that we all care and support each other. For me this is also true of my online friends, a terrific group of women that I would never had the chance to meet in "real" life.

I marvel at frienships but when I got home I started thinking about the Farmer, and men in general. Of course we all know that the sexes are wired differently and men are from Mars but my thoughts revolved around the fact that men don't appear to have friendships. They have buddies and casual friends but I can't think of two men who are in a friendship relationship that resembles the friendships that women experience.

It must just be that wiring thing, that men don't need that type of emotional support. I don't know. Maybe one of my readers is a psychologist and can explain this to me.

All I know is that I'm blessed beyond measure with great people in my life. My neighbor, known here in the blogosphere as the Queen Bee, is always there for me and so caring wise. I've just reconnected with my friend Jan, also known as Hooked on Sunflowers.

I was wondering, do you notice the same thing? Does your guy have real friends or does he have buddies? Now that I think about many men have best friends - their wives or significant other is their best friend. I know it's true in our case. I am the Farmer's best friend!

Taffy Apple Sundaes

Fall is my favorite time of year. One of the reasons is the abundance of fresh apples from the local orchard. There are all types of wonderful desserts made with apples and today I'm going to show you a very easy dessert, called Taffy Apple Sundaes.

First, find some nice serving bowls. I have some wonderful pressed glass bowls from Goodwill that are just the perfect size.

Next we're going to need some apples. Normally I use Granny Smith apples but today I'm going to use what I have on hand.



Cut the apple into bite size pieces.

To assemble the sundae we're going to need vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, chopped apple and Spanish peanuts.



Put several scoops of vanilla ice cream into the serving bowl.



Sprinkle with chopped apple.



Drizzle caramel sauce on top.



You can heat the caramel sauce if you wish, but it tends to melt the ice cream really fast.

Sprinkle with a good dose of Spanish peanuts.



Dig in!!

These peanuts weren't salty enough for my taste. I like that sweet salty taste of a real caramel apple.

This would be fun to serve if you're having a Halloween party.

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Thanks to everyone who left comments and sent e-mails concerned about my week long absence. I've been nursing a sore throat which doesn't seem to get worse and doesn't get better either. On top of all my other health issues it's just an additional annoyance.

Here's a brief synosis of what else has been going on. I've spent the week (actually longer) as a problem-wrangler.

- Shortly before the Farmer lost his job, the company switched insurance carriers. Then they proceeded to appoint a third party administrator to our COBRA account (in order to apply govt. monies from the stimulus package) and set up things with the insurance company incorrectly. It only me some time to determine what had happened but no one seems able to correct this situation.

- I've been stunned to discover Orwelian phone systems and talk to "customer service" reps who have no authority and no knowledge.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP - "How can I help you today?"

THE FARMER'S WIFE - "Blah, blah, blah......blabeddy blah."

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP - "I'm sorry, I don't have access to your information."

THE FARMER'S WIFE - "How can you help me if you don't have my information?"

Crickets chirping.......

Supervisor please!

- The clinical pharmacist of said insurance company decided to trump my physician. The miracle drug (I'm not using the term loosely, this HAS been a miracle for me) is not on their free-as-candy list and the clinical pharmacist has decided that my physican must jump through hoops before they will pay. I'm pretty sure my doctor went through 12+ years of schooling to practice medicine and NOT argue with insurance companies.

- I've been calling every day to check on the status of this medication. Each time I'm speaking with a medical insurance company representative who had no knowledge whatsoever of medical terminology. This is a comedy routine.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP - "Our pharmacy department needs the et.... et-eeee...hmmm,
the E-T-I-O-L-O-G-Y.

THE FARMER'S WIFE - "The etiology?"

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP - "Is that how it's pronounced?"

My local Walgreen's pharmacists have been terrific in attempting to solve the problem from their end. By this time though, they probably hate to see my number coming up on their caller ID.

PHARMACIST - One of the problems is that this medication is a controlled substance.

THE FARMER'S WIFE - Why is it considered a controlled substance?

PHARMACIST - There's a possibility for addiction issues.

THE FARMER'S WIFE - HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!! Yes! I'm addicted to not being in pain. I'm totally addicting to being able to have a life. I'm addicted to being well enough to start my own little company and help my family out. That's me....I'M ADDICTED!!!

In the middle of these battles the doorbell rings and the Farmer discovers the zoning officer from our tiny village standing on the doorstep.

"You need to remove those weeds from the culvert before Nov. 1st or you will be fined $750 PER DAY."

I don't feel bad. He didn't single us out, everyone gets one! I take offense because I'm the Queen of Mowing. My property it two acres of carefully manicured lawn, EXCEPT for the tiny bit of culvert that is deep and muddy. Can't mow that.

We tried to explain that in fact, the village is responsible for maintaining the culvert and that cattails actually soak up excess water, stabilize the soil and prevent the drainage tube from silting up.

Stay tuned. The neighbors are planning some civil disobedience or a party involving gasoline and immolating cattails.

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Although a stinking annoyance, these problems are not serious, just time consuming and frustrating.

I need to thank my wonderful readers for their continued support. A special hoorah for Mary Rex who sent me TWO books to read while I was snuggling in an attempt to stave off illness. I've already finished them and they were both wonderful reads.



The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society was the first novel I've read in a long time that I thoroughly enjoyed. It contains wonderful characters in believable situations. It actually came to a conclusion and didn't simply drift off somewhere. She managed to write a book without including a single preposterous situation.

If I Live to be 100 is the book version of a NPR radio series in which the author interviewed people who were 100 years or older. It's a delightful look into some real life characters.

While I was reading I kept thinking about Vee's grandmother, Nan, who's turning 100 years old this week. Happy birthday, Nan!

Mary has asked me to pass these books along and that's just what I'm going to do. Are you interested in reading one of them? Leave me a comment and let me know which book you'd like to receive. I'll do a drawing on Wednesday and get them in the mail to you.

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Thanks also for all the home remedies. I've tried a few of them but not the ones containing Scotch. Don't ask me why, but my body reacts to Scotch whiskey as if it were poison! The first time I drank Scotch I was so ill they almost hospitalized me!

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I apologize for not baking something this morning but I'm being lazy. I'd love to hear what you've been up to because I haven't been able to follow my blog feeds in the last week and I'm feeling very out of the loop.

So, what's up with you?

Rat Nest

Thanks to everyone who left comments and sent e-mails inquiring as to my well being. I'm doing OK but I've spent the last week unraveling a rat's nest of problems involving insurance, COBRA and other surprising and bizarre developments.

I'll be back on Monday morning to give you a run down.

It became apparent to me that if I was to post in the middle of all this, I'd sound like a raving lunatic. I have been a raving lunatic!!! I just don't want to sound like one. HA!

Do something fun this weekend. I'll see you on Monday.

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

For an entire week a gripping sore throat has been doing it's best to take hold of me. I've done my best to fend it off with one the of the Farmer's famous cures - hot tea with lemon, honey and Jack Daniels whiskey. There were a couple of holes in my plan. We have no lemons. The local food store was charging $1.00 EACH. That makes lemons near as precious as gold. The other problem is that I hate whiskey.

I therefore devised my own witches brew of hot tea and brandy. Whoa, hot brandy makes quite a strong vapor. You could possibly get loaded simply from breathing in the fumes. It does warm you on the way down but I've been thinking that it actually does little else than get you loopy enough not to care about the sore throat. What do you think?

Last night I decided to simply surrender myself to feeling awful and that in itself is perversely pleasurable. Think about it. Just giving up and lying in bed concentrating on how awful you feel and how wonderful it is that you don't have to prepare dinner. Drifting in an out of sleep you find that emitting a low moan occasionally has it's psychological benefits.

Heck, I feel better already.

This morning it was oatmeal for breakfast. This is a house divided between those who love old fashioned oats and those who prefer the instant, chopped up, finely ground gruel variety. Can you guess which side of the fence I land on?

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Now that I've got some sustenance in me, I've decided to serve something for our meeting that's will make everyone feel better.

Soft serve twist ice cream cones.



My throat feels much better after a little bit of this.

Get busy before they melt.



What?? Why, they're from Alice's, of course. They're open until Halloween so we're going to have our fill before then.



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Liberty Post alerted me to a very interesting movie that will be released next May entitled, "Drying for Freedom". The subject? Drying your clothes on a clothesline!

DRYING FOR FREEDOM

We do have covenants in our community but no one pays any attention to them.

I don't dry my clothes on a line, only because I hate the way everything feel stiff as a board.


Source - Shorpy History Images Online

How about you? Do you use a clothesline? How do you combat cardboard-itis?

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I have more to say but it must wait until tomorrow. I'm off to lie down in bed and moan for awhile. I've sworn off the brandy and switched to Alka-Seltzer cold meds.

I'll grab my son's laptop and prop myself up and read what you have to say this morning. Tell me tales of clotheslines and home remedies.

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Comfort Food - Chicken and Dumplings

It's cold, damp and rainy here in northern Illinois. I've been dealing with a couple days of minor drama. Nothing earth shaking but annoying nonetheless.

In addition, my sewing machine Beverly got a flat tire (broken belt) and I've been chasing around for a replacement.

I was about an hour away at a sewing machine repair place when I remembered there was a Cracker Barrel restaurant nearby. I was craving some comfort food and not wanting to engage in the work involved in creating such a dish. Darn it, I just wanted to feel warm and fuzzy without having to bust a sweat.

Here's the object my affection.



Chicken and dumplings. I love either type of dumplings but these are the rolled kind. I could even do without the pieces of chicken. Just the warm saucy goodness and the dumplings would have suited me fine.

Look at the green beans. Thanks heavens I don't have to drive south of the Mason Dixon to find some beans cooked and seasoned to perfection. Gotta love salt pork and lots of coarse ground black pepper.

I opted for the cole slaw although I'm mad about the has brown casserole. I was afraid of sending myself into starch overload, what with the biscuits sitting just out of camera range.

I know you're all drooling. If you're not, we need to check your pulse.

Just in case you feel like bustin' a sweat and making some for yourself, I'll give you my recipe. I use boneless chicken breasts and thighs because I hate the task of deboning chicken after it's been cooked. Since the bones and skin are not included in the stock pot we need to beef up the liquid with some broth.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

2 1/2 lbs. of fresh boneless chicken breasts and thighs
water or chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
poultry seasoning
salt and pepper
1 ½ c. flour
1 ½ c. chicken stock
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 stick butter

First cook the chicken by placing it in a Dutch oven. Add the chopped onion, diced carrot and celery, cover with chicken broth, bring to a boil, then simmer until done. Remove chicken and reserve stock. You're going to need about 5 cups of stock so add some water if necessary. Add 1 TBSP. butter to the stock. This will keep the dumplings from sticking together.

Mix the dumplings:
When stock has cooled to room temperature, mix flour, salt, baking powder and a pinch of poultry seasoning. Add room temperature stock a little at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon. These are dumplings, not noodles so you want the dough to be a little bit sticky.. You want the dough sticky, not a dry ball. The reason it's impossible to give an accurate measurement of stock to flour is that it's dependent several things including the humidity in your kitchen.

Flour your counter, and turn the dough out onto the counter. Generously flour the top of the dough and let it rest on the counter for fifteen minutes or so. With a very light touch, without using pressure, roll the dough out with a pin until it's about 1/4 of an inch thick. Let it rest for about thirty minutes, then cut it into strips about 1-1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long OR triangle, squares or whatever shape pleases you.

Add a pinch of poultry seasoning and butter to stock, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Add dumplings a few at at a time, and use a spoon to gently separate them and dunk them under the stock. Add more. The flour on the dumplings will thicken the stock as it cooks. Repeat this process till all the dumplings have been added, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Simmer very gently. Don't boil and don't stir or the light dumplings will turn to mush.

Slice the chicken into bite size pieces and serve with the dumplings and thickened sauce.

ENJOY!!

Book Shark

My grandfather would live with us each summer during our childhood, trading the heat and humidity of rural Tennessee for the heat and humidity of suburban Chicago.

He would spend the entire summer sitting in a green metal chair in the backyard, reading dime novels (all westerns) and chewing tobacco. To my knowledge, he never owned a car or held a steady job. He was much older when my mother was born, already the father of grown children and grandchildren. I always heard him described as an itinerate carpenter. A modern-day Joseph perhaps?

But, he could read. Could he read! In my mind he was one of the first speed readers. I'd be in the air conditioned house attempting to plow through a Nancy Drew mystery and he'd be finishing a western novel each and every day! I'm not talking thin volumes either. Of course, he didn't do anything else but read so perhaps it wasn't a stretch.

l always remember a tradition of reading in our house. My mother read the latest best sellers, My Brother's Keeper comes to mind. She had my father build a bookcase in the living room that she filled with volumes and volumes of Reader's Digest books. My father usually held down two or three jobs which meant reading was a luxury for him. In fact, I can't remember my father ever reading a book for pleasure.

We discussed the habit of having more than one book going at the same time, usually in different areas of the house. In summer reading is slowed to a crawl as fair weather tasks eat away at the time alloted for reading. Unlike our grandfather, we all seem to be extremely busy and motivated.

When winter comes the load of outdoor tasks is lifted and the level of reading shoots up, becoming voracious at times. It feels like I'm trying to make up for lost time.

This fall is no exception and I've plowed headlong into a stack of books.

Some were cracked open for the first time and some had been started at some point during the summer and left with a marker to hold the spot where I left off. Here's the stack of books that I've torn through since the weather changed.



I gave fiction another chance and was disappointed.

A Painted House by John Grisham
An easy read, due in part to the fact that it's a large print edition. Senior citizen variety. As I neared the end of the 562 page book I began an internal conversation.

"Certainly he's going to tie this story up into some kind of message, or at least a sensible conclusion."

I was wrong. The book just ended, leaving me floating in expectations.

Last Man Out by Melissa Fay Greene
A gritty look at the Springhill mine disaster of 1958. The mine suffered a "bump" (underground earthquake) and miners were killed or trapped. The story is based on eyewitness accounts and psychologists studies of the rescue operation and the aftermath.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.
What can I say? It was a Pulitzer Prize winner. I don't get to vote for that award. Frank's father is drunk, again...... they have nothing to eat, again...... his mother has lost another child, again. Frank has miraculous survived that childhood to write about it. Depressing. I knew impoversihed children growing up, sons and daughters of alcoholic fathers and mothers. I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to revisit these scenes unless it's to exorcise demons.

Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall.
This woman was one of the science superstars in the 1970's along with Jacques Cousteau and Carl Sagan. I loved her TV series and her book explains how she landed in the position of being the world's expert on chimpanzees. It's interesting to note that she takes exception with the reductionist tendency of science, the thought that everything can be reduced and explained by it's lowest common denominator, robbing us of mystery and wonder. Her writing makes you feel like you're in the room having a conversation. Unfortunately the end of the book degenerates into a Kumbaya-fest.

Confederates in the Attic, Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz.
What a strange premise for a book. Tony Horwitz is the great-grandson of a jew who fled Czarist Russia. After returning to the U.S. after nine years abroad he becomes involved with hardcore Civil War re-enactors, travels across ten states to historical battlegrounds and writes a book about his adventures. It's interesting, funny, enlightening and informative.

I can hardly slog through a page of this one:



Doris Kearns Goodwin is an expert but this book is impenetrable. Are you interested in listening in on every conversation Abraham Lincoln ever held with these men? Are you interested in every conversation his rivals ever engaged in? Neither am I.

Here are the two books I am currently leap-frogging.



Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan
The world of science has turned itself inside out at least 4 times since Sagan wrote this in the 70's but it holds up well. He was a fascinating man.

Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes.
Fiction again. I thought I swore off this stuff but this is interesting because Haynes writes with a fascinating combination of words. Here's a sample:

"So there inside that borrowed Ford truck while the rain beat down and they headed home, they cried with a sound like the wail of the Holy Rollers. Cried in rhythm with the worthless wipers slapping on glass like floppy shoes going nowhere."

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Throw a few pages of the dictionary in a blender and see what you can come up with.

I'm three-quarters of the way through this book and all I can say is she better wrap this up and make some sense out of it or I'll swear off fiction forever!

Do your reading habits change during the seasons? What are you reading? Have you read any of these books? I'd love to know what you think about them.

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Good morning and welcome to the Monday Morning Staff Meeting. This morning I've got a cheese coffee cake, coffee, hot chocolate and the only Starbucks product I will drink - Pumpkin Latte. It's delicious, try some!



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The camera is taped together and snapping shots again! Thanks for all the advice on how to fix the boo-boo. Actually, duct tape did not work because this camera is larger and has lots of batteries which makes it heavy. What works is an artists tape that my son had on hand. It doesn't stretch. It's white and the camera looks goofy with it's white band aids.

I mentioned the fact that I bought a chalk marker. I promised pictures and now that the camera is up and running I can do that. The chalk marker that I bought was $3.50, which sounds expensive but I think that it will go a long way. I ordered a color called earth tone green (sage?). Here's what it looks like:



It's so clean looking and no dusty chalk or screechy sound across the board. I love it. I think I'm going to order one in a brighter color because this is a bit tame for me.

You can see the difference between the mark the chalk marker makes and a piece of white chalk.



Yes, I've made a note to myself to sign up for Netflix again. I miss it.

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The Farmer has been officially unemployed for over a month and we haven't made it out to breakfast at Kountry Kettle yet. What's up with that? We made a pact and I'm longing for a half order of "Bud's Mess", a concoction of scrambled eggs, ham or bacon and hash browns. Maybe I can coax him out this morning.

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About that archaeological dig - it was very interesting. I am forever grateful to Jim and graduate student Bill who were so patient in answering my many questions. Unfortunately my knees could not tolerate standing at the screening table for hours on end. They revolted in a big way.

The archaeologists were not specifically looking for artifacts, although they do tell a story. This season they were trying to pinpoint the location of the original well, which in turn would reveal the location of the two roads that met in front of the tavern.

It's fascinating to see them work and how their experience and knowledge leads them in a particular direction. I will say that it's a young person's endeavor, crawling around in pits and digging in the dirt.

I am thankful for the opportunity to add an archaeological dig to the completed column of my bucket list.

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The local owner of an online quilt shop is offering store credit for anyone who helps her prepare for Quilt Market. I think this is something that I can do sitting down. It's definitely something I WANT to do because she has yardages of something called, "Dick and Jane" fabric and yes, it's fabric printed with images of Dick, Jane, Sally and spot. I could certainly make something out of that, don't you think?

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Now on to the drawing for the Cultural Heritage Gardens Cookbook.

=

Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

You know how this goes. Write the names on paper. Old school, no stinking number generators for me!



Cut them out, folding them wing-nut style.



Place them in the huge brandy snifter.



(That could hold ALOT of brandy)

Pull the name. (Don't look at the big grey bathrobe. It's not glamorous but it's warm!)



And the winner is.......



Ingasmile!

Please contact me via e-mail with your information and I'll get the cookbook in the mail to you.

Thanks everyone for leaving comments and participating.

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I'm turning the meeting over to you. I'd love to hear what you've been up to this past week. Anything exciting? Last week I felt very sympathetic to Steph who was dealing with DEAD CHICKENS!!