Almost Christmas

I know its almost Christmas by the calendar and by what I see outside my window, but inside it could be any other cold winter day. We just moved, in fact we are not even moved in fully just the big items...some clothes and of course tv's and computers.

Moving so late in December has hurt our plans to decorate. We weren't sure we would get the house till Dec 10, by then it was to late to even bother decorating.

We moved from a trailer in a park, yes it was a double wide but only about 800 sq feet, to this house with over 1400 sq. Quite a difference, with the bad economy we were finally able to buy a house, the sad part is it was at someone elses loss. I feel bad that who ever had this house had to give it up and are living who knows where this Christmas. We will love this house so much and I hope whoever they were they are warm and cozy somewhere else today.

So I am sad that I have no decorations this year, so many of them are from my mom who I miss at Christmas more than any other time of year. She loved this holiday, and always made it perfect for the whole family. Decorations in ever room of the house, two trees and sometimes even three filled with ornaments old and new. Santa's on every available spot and oh the food she would cook, my dad too. Christmas was always piled high with gifts and family. I miss those days but cherish those memories. I might not have decorations of my own this year but I have those old christmas memories that I can go back to in my mind and enjoy over and over again.

Coming Home

My son will be leaving Afghanistan in about 3 weeks and should be home for a visit somewhere near Dec 5. It has been another stressful year with him serving over seas. Two tours in Iraq and this one in Afghanistan, they seem longer than a year each. we have missed him so much..Coming Home!!!

Tater Soup

I love potato soup, it can be made with whatever you have on hand, its not picky. So tonight to go along with grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches we will be having steaming bowls of potato soup.

To start with a use my big soup pot in case things get out of hand with added goodies to this dish. I cut up 4 strips of bacon and started cooking it in the pan, while the bacon was getting crispy I cut up one onion, one stalk of celery. After the bacon was crispy I added the onions and celery and cooked them till they were tender, but not brown. Once the veggies are tender I added 3 pats of butter, when the butter melted i sprinkled 1/4 cup of flour and cook it for 2 minutes.

I stir in a whole quart of chicken stock and added 5 peeled and cut up potatoes. Today I added one can of creamed corn, and about half a bag of frozen corn. Then 1 cup of milk. I added a bit of salt and pepper to taste and thats the basic soup. It is bubbling along on the stove at the moment making the whole house smell wonderful. On a cool fall day what could be better than to sit down to steaming bowls of soup and a hot sandwich. Pure bliss.

Some thoughts about Grandparents

My grandparents were awesome people, who taught me so much while I grew up. I was lucky enough to have both sets alive till I was almost 20. My granny who is my mom's mom was the first to pass. She was out riding a bike and got hit by a drunk drive on a country road, he drove away without even stopping to see what he had hit. Later he said he thought he had hit a dog. It was so hard for me to accept cause she was my favorite. I spent summer with her and even lived with her for a time when my parents split up.

My grandpa who was my moms dad then remarried two months after she got killed. I was still grieving for her and I guess it was something I couldnt accept at the time. So we lost touch till almost 15 years later. He lived to be 98. He taught me how to ride and care for horses. Him and my granny bought me my first pony when I was just 5 years old, Inky..a really beautiful Shetland pony dapple gray with darker gray spots. Many horses came after that but he was my first.

My grandmother on my dads side was a fantastic cook and she taught me a lot about cooking. Growing up she always wanted to wash my dirty face and with the help of my Grandpa Ed I would run and hide from her many times.

My grandpa Ed was my other favorite and his sense of humor..hard working and smile are things i will always remember. He let me drive the tractor..he let me pick peaches with the other workers and I got 50 cents a lug. He had cancer and died one year to the day after my grandmother passed just like he said he would. His story telling kept us laughing and I love them and pass them along to my children to this day.

Yesterday's pork chops turned out yummy. They were tender and sort of sweet and sour with the added mustard. Everyone loved them. So since I guess today I will bake a cake. Seems in all these old recipes there are more cake recipes than anything else. This cake was called Thirty Dollar Cake, just have to make it to see if it lives up to the name.

2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup of buttermilk
3 cups of cake flour
1 tsp. soda
4 tsp. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
5 egg yolks well beaten
5 egg whites beaten and folded in

Now for the icing

1/2 cups of butter
2 tsp. cocoa
1 box of powdered sugar
3 tsp of coffee
1 tsp of vanilla
1 well beaten egg
1 tsp sour cream

it says makes a really big cake..but no temp or cooking time so I am gonna guess 350 and watch it after 30 minute...I will let you know how long it took and how it tasted.

Well today I am making a recipe that sounded good and hopefully will turn out as well. I did make a few changes to use things I already had in the house. We are trying to use up the can goods and other items like spices and meat from the freezer so we won't have to move them.

Anyway today's dinner will be Pork Chops with pears. I used 6 boneless pork chops, 2 cans of 15 ounce pear halves, a handful of brown sugar and a squeeze of brown mustard.

I sprinkled the meat with a salt,pepper and garlic mixture. I browned them in a fry pan on the stove. Once they were brown I put them in the bottom of the crock pot.

I drained off the fat from the fry pan and added just a tablespoon of butter, then all the liquid from the two cans of pears, mine were heavy syrup. I added a handful of brown sugar and a couple of squeezes of spicy brown mustard. I cooked it about 10 minutes.

I added the pears to the crockpot and then poured the sauce over them, set the crockpot to low.

If it taste as good as it smells this should be a big hit for dinner. I will let you all know.

Susan's Beef Stew

Stew for 4 buy 1 3/4#of boneless chuck or round beef. Cut into 1 inch cubes. Combine 1/3 cup of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper,1/2 teaspoon celery salt. Drop the cubed up meat a few pieces at a time making sure to coat completely.

Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a dutch oven. Drop the meat in and cook till it is browned on all sides take the meat out and add to the left over oil 1/2 cup of chopped onions and 1 clove of garlic thats been chopped. Add the left over seasoned flour that you used to coat the meat. Cook till it is well blended.

Now add to the flour mixture 3 and 3/4 cups of beef broth, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Add the meat back to the dutch oven. Cover and cook on low heat for about 2 hours or untill the meat is tender.

Once the meat is tender add 1 dozen of pearl onions, 1 1/2 cups of cut up carrots and about 4 potatoes cubed. Simmer till the carrots are tender, then add 1/2 package of frozen peas. Cook till the peas are tender and its ready to serve.

I had an idea after seeing Julie and Julia, I had found while packing to move a bag full of recipes that had been saved over the years by my grandfathers second wife. This bag is stuffed full of handwritten, newspaper, the backs of boxes and just about anywhere a recipe could be found. So when I found it I wanted to write them down somewhere so I guess I will do it here. Each day I will try to add one of the recipes, maybe I will even try to make it the next day or that day and tell you what I thought of it.

It should be fun to see how these old recipes will hold up today.