The Cookie Book...Yum!

I never have been a very materialistic person, but sometimes I just have to indulge!

I had a cookbook when I was a child called The Cookie Book.  I absolutely loved this book as a kid!  It is a thin paperback book spiral bound with a painted wood front and a plain wood back.  It was written by Nellie Watts in 1936...and I had a copy!  I got it from my grandmother in the late 1970's.  My mother and I even made a few recipes from the book way back when.  Well, I grew up and left the book with my mother who cannot remember what ever happened to it (yea, right!).  So, thinking about the book quite often lately for reasons I don't get, I searched for the book on Ebay.  One small problem....the sellers want between $60 to $100 a copy!  Are you kidding?!

After a few days of searching, I found a woman offering a copy for $19.99.  I snagged it right up and waited not so very patiently for it to come in the mail.  Now that it is finally here, I can't keep my hands off of it!  So many memories of pouring through the book wishing I could bake every single cookie in it!

Which comes to the point of this post.....

I have resolved to bake EVERY SINGLE  cookie in this book...and you are coming along!  Most everyone is familiar with the movie Julie and Julia.  Well, that is going to be me!  Now that I have my own kitchen, I will be baking every recipe (except the foundation recipes which I will later explain).  I am not going to try to do this within a certain period of time, but will try to get at least one recipe baked a week.

And don't worry, if you are nice, I will even share some of the recipes with you :)

WWII Week Finale: Recipes for Food and More!

photo credits 

Years ago, my mother added to my collection a book of recipes from the WWII and Depression Era.  Quite interesting to paw through recipes on how the whole "waste nothing" lifestyle ate.  I present to you several recipes for food as well as beauty products!  I hope you enjoy it!

Uncle John's Navy Hash

Cold baked potatoes

Cold pot roast or whatever you have

Assorted leftover vegetables:  carrots, cabbage, celery

1 onion, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

Soda crackers, crushed

This is a real good way to use up leftovers, and it tastes great, too.  Cut potatoes, meat and vegetables in to pieces.  Fry meat and onion together until onion is cooked.  Add potatoes and vegetables and fry till hot. Stir in beaten eggs to bind all together.  Add crushed crackers.  You might want to serve this with some ketchup, but it's good and filling all by itself.

Did you ever wonder how they made lard?

How To Render Lard 

Grind pork fat or chop into pieces.  Put into large roasting pan and bake most of the day in a slow oven.  Squash fat occasionally with a potato masher.  Let it cool a bit.  Carefully strain through cheesecloth and then pour fat into jars.  Cover and store in a cool place or better yet in the ice box.  Save the browned cracklings and use for flavoring as you would bacon.

Hard Soap

7 lbs. tallow
3 lbs. rosin
2 lbs potash
6 gal. water
Mix ingredients; boil 3-5 hours.  Our into wash tub; let stand overnight.  Cut into bars and lay in the sun 2-3 days to harden.  This will last an ordinary family a year and save on money spent on soap.

Wrinkle Cream

1 oz white wax
2 oz. strained honey
2 oz. lily bulb juice
Melt ingredients together, cool.  Apply to the face every night and it is said your wrinkles will disappear.

Hair Setting Lotion

1 c. flax seed
3 c. water
Simmer seeds and water together for a few minutes.  Strain and thin to desired consistency.

Hair Darkening Rinse

1 qt. water
1/3 c. sage leaves
Pour boiling water over sage and steep for 2 hours.  Strain, pour over hair.  After 1/2 hour, rinse.

Aren't you glad all we have to do is go to the nearest drug store?!

Featured Crafter: Sally Lee Home Accents

I first found Sally Lee Candles on Twitter.  I even featured her mulberry candle in my first treasury on Etsy.  She has expanded a lot more recently promoting her Home Accents, Sally Lee Home Accents.  Currently her promotion is on the famous Tiffany lamps.  She has a beautiful collection. I particularly love this unique 3 Butterfly Tiffany Style accent lamp. She has other related sister sites and blogs too.  Be sure to check them out.

I have become a part of her Ning site, Earth Friendly Marketplace.  I love being a part of that network.  It's very helpful and I've met some great people.  There is a good variety of handmade crafters and eco-friendly shops to talk to.  We welcome you to join us.

Not only is Sally Lee your one stop shop for everything home, she also completes that agenda with providing recipes and tips with That Girl Can Cook. She has a ton of great recipes, tips and links to other great cooking resources.

Be sure to follow these sites on Twitter, Facebook and Blogspot.  Everyone should have a one stop shop for all their home needs. 

Favorite fall...

things to consume! So pour yourself a mug of Festive Spiced Cider and check out these yummy ideas!

I do so love the recipes that signify fall. Not just holiday food but also all those things that contain the seasonal ingredients. How about Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Buns for breakfast?

Then a way to use up that Thanksgiving turkey for dinner? Turkey Potpie with Cheddar Biscuit Crust

Don't forget a show stopper dessert courtesy of one of my favorite non-bead/jewelry magazines, Real Simple. Gingersnap Pear Cheesecake (one small suggestion from my experience with this recipe is to reduce the amount of butter used in the crust).

Finally, although not edible, another look at a pair of pendants in my new autumnal glazes!

French Architectural Pendant in Harvest glaze.One of my new patterns in a toasty glaze that I've named Vintage.

Don't forget to return at the end of the Open House at 4:00 EST (1:00 PST) for more!

See the other participating blogs at: http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com

Summer Equals Smoothies!

It's time once again for the Etsy Bloggers Carnival! What's that you say? I haven't done one on here in awhile? Well...that's true. See, I'm the kinda crazy girl who runs THREE blogs. So my blog carnival entries end up on which ever one I deem most appropriate for the theme. Lately that's been my Jedi Blog because the options I've chosen have involved more personal stories than anything to do with art. Since that's part of the realm of that blog - it goes over there! I also do a lot of book reveiws over there and share some of my writing. If any of that sounds interesting to you, be sure you check it out!

One of the options for this weeks theme was your favorite summer recipe. Now it's hard for me to do a recipe because I tend to mess with recipes. I very rarely cook anything exactly according to the original recipe, and once I start cooking something regulalry I often abandon using a recipe at all. I sometimes even abandon using measuring tools. I blame my mother. Which is aweful because I used to complain to no end about her cooking like that because it made it harder for me to learn to cook! Don't worry, I've since forgiven her now that I understand ;)

My hubby and I discovered during our first year of marriage that we LOVE drinking smoothies during the summer. (I can say that! I'm on my second year! LOL) In fact I get kinda sad during the winter because it's usually just too cold to want to make smoothies. Of course then I make lots of coffee and other hot goodies... Anyway, I payed close attention when I made smoothies to go with dinner tonight (chicken burritos!), so I have a "recipe" for you!

Needed:

1 blender

Juice

Fruit

Sugar

Ice

Yes, I know that wasn't measurements. I'll give you rough one's in the recipe - be patient!

1. Set up your blender :P

2. Pull out your juice. I usually use a citrus based juice. Pineapple, Orange/strawberry/banana, Mango/orange, take your pick!

3. My blender measures liters. I usually put in just over 1/4 a liter of juice. Now here's a secret - putting in extra juice is MUCH better than putting in too little! Too little and it won't blend well. So be generous!

4. Add your fruit. What fruit? What's in your fridge? During the summer I tend to keep strawberries in the fridge and that's my mainstay. I put 6 big one's in tonight. If they are big I usually cut them once or twice to make things easier on the blender, and don't forget to cut off the stems! You can add anything you want though, bannana, mango, blackberries....be creative!

5. Sugar. I don't put much in, maybe a two and half spoons? Tends to be just a little too tart if you don't add anything though.

6. Blend breifly until smooth.

7. Add ice. How much will depend on how big your ice container is. I tend to put in about 3/4 a tray. Experiment until your happy - these are yummy experiments!

8. Blend until smooth. This could take a bit. Depending on your blender you may need to stop it at some point and kinda shake or stir the ice down towards the bottom. This is where having used extra juice can help!

9. Pour and enjoy! (Serves two large cups)

Aren't you jealous of my nice Dollar Tree cups? You know you are!

Don't like my recipe? Too imprecise for you? I found a whole web-site of smoothies called Smoothie Web! They even have a section called "Crazy Smoothies" - I may just have to experiment :D