A New Life for a Table, or Two

Once upon a time there was a school kitchen. 

One that actually cooked food for children.

Not the new fangled idea that you order in and then heat it up.

This table was part of that kitchen.

Only, it didn't look like this then.

(see the sold tag on the corner?)

The Virginia House Featured

My friend
 Jillian 
from

The Virginia House

was featured in a magazine!

see it here

This is an Italian published magazine that features homes and decorating

 Gli Speciali di Casa Chic

What an honor for her

(and me, to know her...)

As I peeked through the photos, I noticed the pillow my daughter made her on the bed.

Congratulations Jill

Well done.

Message In A Bottle

I've had this wonderful sea glass for some time.

I have had it in a clear glass vase on my window sill to admire

and it has been other places, too.

Sea glass is glass that has been dumped into the ocean along the coasts.

I know that is not environmentally friendly, or something like that.

"All Boy"

A new little one is on the way.

No, its not in our family, but we have known the grandparents for years.

I wanted to send along a little something

and this flannel just said, "take me and make something"

Flannel says,

whisper soft skin, so young

caresses

love of a mother

swaddling blankets

(I know, they don't do that any more, and I miss it)

~~~~~~

So, being it is going to be a boy...

The two pieces compliment each other

And, after trying to make a "self-binding" blanket the other day,

I decided to take the easy road and just sew along the edge of

two pieces, turn them and then sew along the edge.

My sewing machine sewed a flotilla of little sail boats along the edge

I wasn't sure what would happen when we got to the edge,

but the Coast Guard didn't even have to help us.

During the mindless sewing (the machine takes it away)

I was put in mind to pray for the family that will welcome this new little life.

May the mother guide this child with the love of the Lord in mind.

May the father be worthy of being the role model the child will see to view his heavenly father.

~~~~~

Now, what to do to keep it from shifting as it is washed.

I sewed from side to side in the center (don't tell the mother, she will think it is this way on purpose)

Then, because the flannel is so soft, so baby skin soft,

I had to think of the man he will become

Now, I will send it on its way to its new home.

Linking up to:

JAQS Studio: Made By Me

Applesauce Anyone?

Criss Cross, Applesauce, 

Spiders Crawling up my Back...

Are you tired of apples yet?

I have been trying to keep up with just the ones on the ground. The wind-falls. Although there has not been any wind. I had this huge tub and started peeling and peeling with my trusting little peeler.

These are Graven stein apples

This is an 8 quart pot, it is almost overflowing.

Roughly 60 or so apples

Add a little sugar and cinnamon. Let it simmer and put it in jars.

It made 5 quart jars

I do know that there are only 4 here, peek next door to the other pot.

And, of course, not all of it fit into the jars, sigh, I just had to finish this up

Then out to the compost heap to dump these.

Tomorrow there will be more.

And, you should not see my hands, they are so stained.

Homemade Apple Pie

Now, a couple of disclaimers right off...

We like our apples cooked, nary a crunchy one in the batch.

It was like the "Holy Grail" to find a pie that was cooked enough. So, if you are of the school that likes to see the slices, light and fluffy, this recipe is not for you.

Secondly, this post is heavy with pictures, it will bore you to death, or will spur you on to make a pie, whatever.

So, now to get on with it.

We have 11 apples trees - you can read about it here.

The apples that I am working with are somewhat small, so a pie takes more than 5 or 6of these little guys.

I love this little peeler, it has seen many years of use and is still going strong. I would recommend it in a heartbeat. Besides peeling, it slices the apples and cores them. All I do is cut the whole, peeled apple once across and toss it into a pot. Why a pot? you ask... because my apples are still some green and, like I said before, we like them cooked.

So, here are a few with more coming.

Here I am adding about a cup of white sugar and then,

say, 1/2 cup brown sugar

some cinnamon - perhaps a tsp, maybe more.

Measures are approximate because I have done this so many times, I tend to go by feel.

A couple good dashes of nutmeg

And about 1/2 cup of flour

Mix it up good and proper and put it on to simmer while you make the crust

I have found that a pastry cloth with a cover for the rolling pin to work great. I also buy my pie crust mix in the bulk section of the store. All I need to add is water. You do what works best for you. Here is about 3 cups of mix and I use perhaps 4 to 5 Tablespoons of water.

Your water should be cold. Here I have added an ice cube down in there to keep it cold.

 The pie crust mix is crumbly without the added water. You add the cold, cold water, a tablespoon at a time until it starts clumping together. Don't stir, just bring the fork around the bowl from the bottom to the top and it will all get mixed in.

 Can you see it getting more moist?

When it gets to the point that it sticks to the fork, then I stop adding water. I told you that I do this by feel...

 Now, that it is all fluffy, punch it down and divide it into half.

 Form it into a ball, don't by shy, you are in control here.

If you haven't gotten out your pie plate, now would be a good time. I have found that spraying it with non-stick spray works good for me.

Here is the pastry cloth, ready to go with some flour sprinkled on it too.

Take your half of dough and flatten it with your hand and then start rolling, working from the center to the outsides. I like to use the cloth because I can rotate the cloth around and make my pie dough somewhat round.

When you think you have it large enough, take your plate and put it down on the crust and measure. It should be larger than the pie plate by about 2 inches.

Okay, now move the plate, put your rolling pin on top of the crust near the center and flip the dough over it with the cloth, like this.

Now, move the plate near and lift the dough over the plate, centering it.

As you can see, it doesn't have dough all the way on one side, not to worry, it will all work out.

Don't forget that you should stir the apples on the stove every once in a while, answer the telemarker calls and let the dog out (no, kids we don't have a dog...)

If your apples have turned a warm cinnamony color, then pour them into your pie shell.

Here, I decided that I wanted more apples, so I peeled some more, added a little more sugar and cinnamon.

An important thing that I didn't realize was that every pie needs butter, margarine or some kind of "fat". Not that it doesn't already have enough to make you fat... Anyway, like when your mother showed you how to make gravy, you need fat, butter, etc, then flour to thicken the juices. In the same way, when you add the butter, it interacts with the flour and thickens the juices so that they make a lovely sweet gravy to go around your apples. Just think of it as a scientific fact and do it.

Roll out the other half of dough and flip it over the top of the rolling pin like before

Lift it over your pie

And cover the top

Roll the dough up like a little "levee" around the sides. I know, some of you don't live where there are levees. They are to keep the river in its banks during the rainy, flooding season. Just make a little mountain range all around the edge, combining the layers of the top crust and the bottom crust into one unit. There will be extra hanging off all over, its OK

Now take a knife and trim the pie crust to the edge of the pie plate. The extra will fall off, If you are like me, you may have to sample the crust to make sure you are preparing quality stuff.

Turn it around for your convenience, no sense in getting a crik in your neck trying to see the back side.

Now, with your little levee, pinch it between your thumb and first finger and give it a twist

Move over to the groove you just make and do it again, all the way around the edge until you meet where you started, Now, that wasn't that hard, was it? If all else fails, mash it with a fork, you just want to get the two crusts to stick together.

You have a lovely pie ready for the oven, but wait! you need to bake it on something. I don't think I have ever baked a pie without it running over, so, I use a cookie sheet and then I got smart (so I didn't have to scrub the cookie sheet) and use foil over it, so I can throw the foil away (sure enough, you will see later that it did run over some)

Cut some slits in the top to let out steam

Now what to do with the left-over crust trimmings. Well, you can make yourself sick by eating it, or...

Roll it out again and cut out a design. Here is a rough apple with a few leaves.

I laid them out on top of the pie for decoration

Start the pie at 400' and cook it for 15 minutes - then turn the oven down to 350' and cook for additional 45 to 50 minutes or until when you insert a sharp knife or cake tester, you don't feel a 'crunch' as it goes through the apples.

Finished pie, juices running out the edges

It was good

Linking to:

JAQS Studio: Made By Me

French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday