Becka's blog

This week Aldi has a lot of good deals on produce, such as cucumbers for 29 cents, mushrooms for 59 cents, baby carrots for 49 cents, and others I can't remember at the moment. So you might want to check it out. Our sales at Aldi run from Wednesday until the following Tuesday. Another item I have been buying at Aldi is bananas. Since there are just two of us eating bananas at our house, very often some would get over ripe. This is not always a problem since the over ripe ones are good for baking. But, recently DelMonte has come up with these special bags which help slow down the ripening. They really do work. I have kept bananas for over a week before they even start to freckle. I'm sure other stores carry bananas in these bags too, but I have found them at Aldi and wanted to share the fact that they really do work.

Another thing I want to share is this recipe for Ranch Dressing. I have found several recipes similar to this on-line and it really is good. It is DH's favorite salad dressing. It would also be good for a quick potato salad dressing.

Good Ranch Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsps. dried parsley (or a small handful of fresh, chopped)
1 tsp. dried dill (or a small handful of fresh, chopped)
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and whisk together. Store in refrigerator.

I have lots of fresh dill and parsley in the garden right now, so this is what I have been using. I have tried making this with lowfat mayonnaise but it was a little too thick. You can thin it by adding a bit more buttermilk or even some regular milk.

Have a blessed weekend!

Becka

A number of years ago I discovered The Midwestern Country Cookbook by Marilyn Kluger at the library and checked it out. I liked it so much that I asked for my own copy for Christmas that year. If you enjoy "reading" cookbooks you should find this one a delight. Mrs. Kluger writes in charming detail about growing up out in the country near both sets of grandparents. Interwoven in the family stories are recipes that she associates with different people and different events.

I love reading cookbooks with stories about the recipes. A modern cookbook of this type is Southern Plate by Christy Jordan. Christy tells delightful stories about her southern family and their food traditions. Another such cookbook that comes to mind is Jewish Cooking in America by Joan Nathan. I have checked this book out of the library several times and am always facinated by the stories of how these precious recipes were treasured and preserved throughout the years.

I have several recipes which I received from my aunt Nana (this recipe), my grandmother, and one from my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother, Margaret Alice Copeland, lived with my grandmother and passed away when I was a young elementary school-age child. The recipe passed along from her is called Mrs. Monday's Soup. It received that name because Great Grandma overheard the recipe being narrated while she was listening in on the party-line! From what I understand that was a rather common pass time back in the day. This recipe isn't outstanding, but it is something that goes together quickly and that can be made from ingredients that many people keep on hand. It is written as it was narrated to me, with my changes at the end.

Mrs. Monday's Soup

Take three or four large potatoes and dice them in fairly large pieces. Put just enough water on to cover them and cook. Meanwhile take about two Tablespoons of butter in a skillet and cut up an onion in the butter and cook these until you think they're done. Then add this to the cooked potatoes. (You may have to drain some water off of them) Then add about one cup tomato juice and stir up. Remember this is soup so it should be soupy. Salt and pepper to taste.

*Note: I often add a stalk or two of chopped celery including the leaves with the onion. I don't usually keep tomato juice on hand so I use half tomato sauce and half water to replace the tomato juice.

Here is a picture of Grandma Copeland:

Do you have any family recipes that have been handed down from your ancestors or any "story" cookbooks that you enjoy?

Becka

Have you ever heard of Cornell Bread, or its developer, Clive McCay?

Dr. McCay was a nutrition researcher at Cornell University in the 1930's who developed recipes for this bread (and the flour mixture it's made from) as an inexpensive way to improve the health of the general population. He felt that since bread was something that most people ate and enjoyed that by formulating bread which was high in vitamins, minerals, and protein he could improve the diets of many people. You can find quite a bit of information about him on the internet.

He advocated adding wheat germ, soy flour, and nonfat dry milk to a basic recipe for white bread to enrich it. He worked on enriching white bread since this is what the general population preferred at the time. You can also enrich the flour for use in many other baked goods by adding 1 Tablespoon soy flour, 1 Tablespoon nonfat dry milk, and 1 teaspoon wheat germ for each cup of flour.

I have a small Dover publication from 1980 called The Cornell Bread Book which contains a variety of recipes for enriched bread products--54 to be exact. It has pictures illustrating many bread baking techniques, including kneading, bread rising, shaping, etc. The book was written by Mrs. McCay after the death of her husband to encourage more people to try these recipes and it is still available. It also includes large scale formulas for schools and bakeries.

I found this recipe for making Cornell Bread in the bread machine and made a loaf of it this week:

(The proportions are a bit different from the original formula and this loaf does contain a little whole wheat flour. Mrs. McCay did encourage people to experiment with the recipe. )

Cornell Bread for Bread Machine

1 1/4 cup water
1 egg
2 Tbsps. honey
2 Tbsps. butter
1 1/2 tsps. salt
6 Tbsps. wheat germ
6 Tbsps. non-fat dry milk
6 Tbsps. soy flour
1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsps. yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine in order given. Bake on white bread cycle. (I mixed mine on the dough cycle and then shaped it into a loaf and let it rise about a half hour. I slashed it and then baked it at 350 degrees for 50 mins. It was a little dark (which I later read is because of the soy flour), so next time I will bake it at 325 degrees. It rose very well and made a nicely shaped loaf.)

Becka

I'm still working on the projects of sorting and organizing my fabric and craft stash. I have lots of fabric scraps from several decades of making clothes for myself and my two daughters. It's been fun sorting through and remembering all the original creations that were fashioned from the fabrics. All the fabrics are being pressed and the larger pieces of fabric are being wrapped around comic book boards. There are a number of blogs out in cyber space chatting about this method of organization, but I was greatly inspired by this one. I was a little amused when I entered the comic book store and asked for the boards the man at the counter asked if I was going to use them for wrapping fabric. He said he has had quite a few women come in asking for them in recent months.

This is what the wrapped fabric boards look like:

The smaller scraps are being cut into strips and blocks following Bonnie Hunter's tips for organizing found here on her website. She has lots of good tips for organizing and utilizing scraps. I try to press a few scraps each day and then cut them into strips throughout the day as I have free time. Slowly but surely I'm working through the stash.

Several years ago I purchased a knit top that was from a Coldwater Creek store at a thrift store. I really like the style and the way it fits so I decided to trace it and make a pattern from it. I was inspired by this blog post to give it a try. My shirt was pretty easy since it had few details to copy.

As always I am grateful for my faithful assistant, Adelaide who is such a help with all my sewing and crafting projects:

Becka

This past week we were able to take Ryan up to one of our favorite places in the mountains — to visit the baby goats at Carl Sandburg's house in Flat Rock, North Carolina. The weather was cool but sunny and was just perfect for a little hike in the woods up to the goat barn. The day we went they had five baby goats and two of the does had not yet had their kids, so more will be coming. The little goats were very curious and frisky and it was fun to watch them run around.

Here's one of the little kids:

Here's Ryan investigating the baby goat:

Here's Ryan looking at the chickens:

He decided he liked them.

Here are Grandpa and Ryan having fun together:

Do you have any special places you enjoy visiting in the spring?

Becka