• Baking and packing…

    November 20, 2012 / 11 Comments

    Tomorrow I will be up at the crack of dawn and on my way South with my daughter and her family.  Today, I have a “million” things to do.  I must finish baking the goodies that I am taking for Thanksgiving…in addition to running a few errands and packing.  I baked one and a half dozen banana bread muffins that probably won’t make it to Memphis…with seven of us in a van for eleven hours!  I baked three dozen of my son-in-law’s favorite peppermint cookies.  He’s driving most of the way so I’m sure he will enjoy snacking on a few of those on the way to Memphis!

    Peppermint Cookies

    I also baked a double batch of my favorite molasses cookies!  Those I will have boxed up for the trip and for the Thanksgiving reunion.  I made a large batch of trail mix (m & m’s, peanuts and raisins) and divided them into little “snack bags” for the trip.  Easy to reach for that way.  If they make it to Memphis, they will stay in the van since Penny’s grandchildren are allergic to nuts.

    As I finish this post, there is another favorite in the oven:  Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  I love the smell of almond and vanilla filling the apartment right now!

    Wishing each of you safe travels and a joyful Thanksgiving with your families and friends…

    Trail Mix Baggies

    Molasses Cookies

    Cookie Recipes…

    Dianne’s Favorite Molasses Cookies

    2 & 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon ginger

    1 teaspoon cinnamon

    2 level teaspoons baking soda (don’t heap these)

    2 tablespoons hot water

    1/2 cup Crisco soft shortening (make sure it’s fresh!)

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1/2 cup molasses (I use Grandma’s Molasses – unsulphured)

    1 egg

    6 tablespoons cold water

    1/2 cup seedless raisins (or more if you’re a raisin lover)

    Start heating oven to 400 degrees. Follow directions closely for the best cookie! SIFT together the flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Dissolve soda in hot water. Mix the Crisco shortening, sugar, molasses and egg until creamy. Mix in flour mixture alternately with the cold water; then mix in the dissolved soda and all but a few raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons – 2? apart – onto greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with remaining raisins. Bake 12 minutes or until done. Makes about 2 dozen.

     

    Favorite Peppermint Cookies

    2/3 cup Butter flavored Crisco

    1/4 cup granulated sugar

    1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

    1 egg

    1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

    1/2 teaspoon baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes

    Cream Crisco and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed.  Beat in egg.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Blend well into creamed mixture and stir in crushed peppermint.  Shape into small balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 – 12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets.  Makes about 36 cookies, so I usually double it…they’re so good.  Don’t wait too long to get the cookies off the pan or they will harden and it won’t be easy!

  • One week from today…

    November 14, 2012 / 5 Comments

    One week from today, I will be in a mini-van with my daughter and her family (seven of us) traveling (11 hours!) home to Memphis for Thanksgiving.  Memphis is where I grew up, fell in love and got married (39 years) and had three wonderful children.  My three sisters (two now in Heaven) and I spent so much time together in Memphis and Mississippi.  My nieces and nephews are so much a part of my life there.  The closer I get to Memphis, the more the memories come flooding in…whether I’m flying into the airport there or on a rare drive.

    The last time all of my children and grandchildren were in ONE location (always my dream), was in June 2010 in Chicago.  What a wonderful time we had!  My precious little Peruvian granddaughter – never shy – walked in first to the hotel room where we all were and proceeded to introduce her big sisters and then herself.  A perfect introduction.  Of course, she didn’t realize that she was the one everyone  was meeting for the first time!  (Except for me of course – I had been to Peru in 2008 where my son was a missionary doctor.)  Special memories.

    I’m looking forward to making more special memories as we are all together in Memphis with my late husband’s sister Penny and her family.  This time, my younger son’s fourteen month old  baby girl will be there too!  I can’t wait to hold her!  Although now she is so “busy” I probably won’t be able to hold her for long, but we can definitely play.  She will be so excited to be with all of her cousins!  My precious niece Sharon and her husband will come over for a fun barbecue dinner.  I can’t wait to see them!  I miss everyone and wish that we ALL lived closer to one another!  My youngest says “but, Mom, you gave us roots and wings”!  Let that be a lesson to me – about the “wings” that is!  😉

    Chicago 2010

     

    Featured photo at top:  Sweet baby girl!  She will have so much fun with her cousins in Memphis!

    I would be tempted to stay in Memphis and visit a while longer then fly back home to Iowa; however, I do not want to miss the first birthday that my baby girl and I have been able to spend together in a very long time.  My birthday (and her late Dad’s birthday also) is December 1.  Her birthday is December 4th!  She was almost born on OUR birthday.  She took the photo below at arm’s length under flourescent lights the night of the Great Pumpkin Party at our church!  Please remember:  flourescent lights are not kind to anyone!  😉

     

  • Looking more like home…

    November 4, 2012 / 7 Comments

    It was Summer in Memphis in the photo above…a few years ago.  I’m guessing that my niece Sharon (left) and I were about 3 and 5 at the time.  She is my oldest sister’s only child and we grew up more like sisters.  If you’ve read my other blogs, then you’ve read about our adventures.

    Sharon is an artist and an amazing interior decorator.  I wish she were closer so she could help me decorate this apartment.  In a way, she does help for I have three of her wonderful “snow” paintings.  After the recent move, I couldn’t find the largest one.  I searched and searched – finally during the “work party” on Saturday, I found it!  I was so relieved and happy to see it.

    I hung the paintings yesterday on either side of the fireplace.  It felt a lot more like home then.

    The top painting below is an original watercolor by well-known Memphis artist, Lafayette Ragsdale that I purchased years ago.  I’m sure I couldn’t afford one of his originals now.  The other three watercolors are by my precious niece.  (I have no idea why that smudge appeared on the photo – there’s nothing on the glass!)

     I have now been here for three weeks – making progress but still boxes to unpack!  Will eventually post pics when I’m a little further along but here you see the result of the multitude of book boxes – unpacked!  I never feel at home until I can see my books!   And, yes, those are cookbooks on the lower half of the left shelf – there is also a bookcase of cookbooks in the kitchen!

     

  • Saturday morning work party…

    November 3, 2012 / 13 Comments

    The alarm went off at 7:30 this morning.  I was in a deep sleep, snuggled under the warm covers…definitely not in any hurry to get out of bed.  However, I knew my daughter would be here at 9:00 a.m. and ready to work.  The two of us were tackling my storage room on the lowest level of this condo building.  There are actually condos on that level too, although I definitely would not want to live down there.  The hallway on the lower level appears long and not very brightly lit to me.  My daughter says it reminds her of the hallway in the movie “The Shining”!   I’m glad my condo is on the second floor, but I am happy to have the storage room down there which is about 10′ x 12′ and close to full.

    I had enjoyed my previous “studio” but there certainly isn’t room for one here.  Instead, we are setting it up in my daughter’s large basement and I will spend a few days each week at her house – with the two of us sewing and creating whatever our hearts desire.

    I had warned her that I had a “boatload” of fabrics and sewing supplies.  The two of us hauled large box after box of fabrics and supplies to her vehicle (thankfully, her husband and older son will be there to carry them in at home for her).  There was a lot of laughter and comedy as we opened each box to discover the contents.  Needless to say, she is very exited about OUR new studio!  😉

    Next, comes the process of organizing it all at her house…and then the fun begins!

  • Time traveling…

    November 2, 2012 / 4 Comments

    I’m amazed at how our senses can take us back to another time and another place…

    The taste of a delicious, hot Southern biscuit reminds me of my Mama’s wonderful cooking. One bite of homemade banana pudding with the golden brown meringue, I close my eyes…forty six years pass…and I’m home again.

    If I get even a slight whiff of the perfume “Windsong” by Prince Matchabelli or of the men’s cologne, “English Leather”, it’s 1966 all over again and I’m a young newlywed.

    If I hear the song “Aldi-La”, it’s 1964 and I’m sitting in the coffee shop at Mississippi College (I think it was called “The Wigwam”) with my roommate, Linda, who had just broken up with her boyfriend and we are both in tears. If the old movie “A Man Called Peter” is playing on the classic movie channel, I think of a Saturday night in 1963 and a young man named Ross.

    Sometimes our senses can even play tricks on us. Not long after my father passed away, I was shopping at the grocery store and saw an elderly gentleman who looked so much like my father, even down to the slight parkinsons tremor and the gait. I found myself closely following him for two or three aisles in the grocery store…it was almost like looking at my Daddy all over again. I managed to pull myself together long enough to park the shopping cart and left the store in tears.

    Touch. What can I say? I’m a hugger. I come from a long line of huggers. The human spirit can only go so long without being touched…held…hugged. There have been dozens of studies on how many hugs a day a human needs. As a Registered Nurse, I spent many years taking care of patients and made sure I incorporated some form of touch besides the routine care…a pat on the back or arm…a reassuring hug. Perhaps this is also why the studies have attributed having a pet to a sense of well-being and an overall decrease in blood pressure.

    Have you ever noticed how much we learn from our sense of touch? How many times have we seen something that we’d never seen before and our first response is to want to touch it. Ever notice the sign “Do Not Touch” in a museaum or exhibit?

    I walk into a fabric store and my senses are overwhelmed with row after row of bolts of fabric…all different colors…patterns…textures. I’m also overwhelmed with memories of spending time growing up in the fabric store with my Mama. She was an excellent seamstress and made most of my clothes. We’d spend time together selecting a new pattern and find the fabric for it together. I did the same thing with my children…and, now, my daughter with hers. Mama had so many offers to sew for payment, but she reserved those talents for her family. She told me:  “I only sew for love”.  Years later, after I began the tedious work of sewing for my family, I understood and said the same thing to my family. Who knew that would come full circle as now I hear my daughter repeat the exact declaration as she works hard to sew for her family…

     

    Originally published in My Southern Heart.  

    I’m headed to the fabric store this morning for a super sale on patterns and it brought back memories of this past post.  Thought I’d share…

  • Trick or treating under a full moon…

    October 31, 2012 / 8 Comments

    There’s nothing like spending a chilly evening – under an amazing full moon – “trick or treating” with your grandchildren and your daughter…especially if you are dressed like Grumpy and your daughter is Winnie-the-Pooh!  My thirteen year old granddaughter and almost four year old grandson were “Penny” and “Bolt” from the Disney movie Bolt.  My eight year old granddaughter was an adorable fairy.  My daughter created or coordinated each of the children’s costumes.  What a fun night!

    Grumpy with attitude and padding!  😉