Pumpkin’s Birthday

I am just getting my programs working again and there are still some bugs to work out. But at least things are back up and running!

There is lots going on around here so plenty of blog fodder. However, there is not much time to post about it. Here is a highlight from last week.

My Little Man was born during harvest season, so we like to visit the pumpkin patch for his birthday. In fact, his very first birthday was celebrated at a farm. I hope he enjoys this tradition even when he grows up.

This year a local pumpkin patch added a pirate ship and my little swashbuckler was very happy about that! Some of my family was there to celebrate with us. I cant post pictures of them because some of them don’t like to have their pictures online. But my boy knows they were there and he has pictures for his scrapbook. Building memories for him, and for the other kids in the family, are most important.

We put our focus on the bountiful harvest rather than spooky things, so I appreciate the pirate fun and the opportunity for my kids to dress up if they wish.

I love how the ship looks like it is sailing through the fields of corn.

Ahoy there Mateys!

I loved how my birthday boy decided to wear mittens. It wasn’t even cold out.

There are four of my kids in this picture, including the peace sign.

Thank you God, for four wonderful and healthy years with this little boy.

Thank you for the seventy-seven birthdays I have been able to celebrate with my children, all total.

Happy Harvest!

Menu Plan Monday: How Could It Be October 4-10 Already?

Fall definitely happened upon us this last week. When we arrived at our camping destination there were a few yellow leaves on the ground. When we left it was a carpet! If I had known this was the week, I would have taken before and after pictures. I did enjoy the contradiction of beautiful leaves though, floating by us on the water, displaying their fall colors even as we were splashing around in the summer-like weather.

Soup’s On Saturday began this past Saturday with “The Basics” and will be all about “Yummy Veggie Soups” next Saturday. Post your favorite veggie soup recipe on your blog and I’d love to have you link up. I am especially interested to hear about your favorite seasonal soups, made from local ingredients. It doesn’t have to be for this current season, but there sure are some great seasonal squash soup recipes in season right now…

This week is a busy one. In addition to homeschooling the kidlets, daily activities, and playing catch-up from being gone all week, I have a conference this weekend, so will be gone at dinner time both Friday and Saturday nights. Giving a clap for Jesus that I have some frozen dinners in that freezer!

At our house this week:

Monday: Leftovers from camping (includes biscuits, burritos, and Chicken Masala which my kids are sad to eat without naan bread!)

Tuesday: Fish Tacos (I made the filling ahead and it is in the freezer)

Wednesday: Veggie Soup (I will post about it for Soup’s On Saturday)

Thursday: 1 Dish Taco Bake (except I have too many people in my family so it takes 2-3 dishes, heehee)

Friday: BBQ Ribs and Rice

Saturday: Turkey Almond Casserole from the freezer (the recipe calls for chicken but I used both turkey and chicken as I had both to use up)

Sunday: Eat out? Maybe? I hope?… (Otherwise, I will come up with a crockpot meal because everyone is famished by the time we get home from church).

(For lots of links to other blogs with weekly menus this week, visit www.orgjunkie.com)

Have a cozy week!

Soup’s On Saturday The Third – The Basics

I’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks. The first day of S.O.S. and my first official recognition of Fall for the year. I usually love whatever season is upon us, including fall, and all of the comforts of home I especially appreciate when the weather gets cooler again and, in my neck-o-the-woods, WETTER!

It’s sort of funny though because, as I type this, I am sitting in our travel trailer, after a beautiful summer-like day playing in a river and fishing with my family in about the most idyllic wilderness setting you could conjure up.

Just in case that previous post didn’t have enough pictures…

This pathway leading back to our campsite looks pretty fall-like with the beautiful yellow leaves my littlest man says look like bananas!

And I did say I would issue an invitation to Fall this Saturday, by starting Soup’s On Saturday… and so I shall.

You can look here to read about what Soup’s On Saturday is and here for the Soup De’jour (schedule that lists what soups will be featured when).

Soup, The Basics:

Broth: In all my studying of food and how to prepare and serve it, I don’t think I have found any other food to be more beneficial in and of itself, than a true bone broth.

The first little known rule is to start out with cold water. Even in my very old cookbooks, I find this step to be included. Adding vinegar is the next “secret”. It helps to extract the nutrients from the bone better. The article "Broth Is Beautiful" is a very informative article about making bone broth (it is also linked in the soup list on my side bar). And you can find my own recipe for making our favorite bone broth, with vegetables, here, from last year. Yummy.

Freezing Broth: Many people are against using plastic products. I also try to avoid them for the most part. So I suggest using canning jars, making sure you leave a couple inches at least, for the soup to expand, if you have a set-up where this will work. I have too many people to freeze for and too little space for this method. Since I know my broth will not be heated in the packaging, I use gallon sized zip bags. I clearly label them with the contents and date toward the top of the bag, and freeze it flat. Once it is frozen in a flat shape, I put it in a basket standing up, like a file system of sorts. This helps me to keep my frozen items organized while making the most of the space we have in the freezer (I will include a picture later when I am home from camping!).

I will freeze a gallon or two at least in ice cube trays too, then in zip bags. Using about 3 cubes at a time, thawed and gently warmed, is great nutrition to sip on, for a sickie or an expectant mother who can’t seem to keep anything down.

‘Cream Of’ Soups: I am a proponent of just about any creamed soup. Except Tomato Soup. If you can give me a tomato soup recipe I actually like, my hat is off to you. It probably has something to do with the fact that my grandma made it for me once when I was about 8 or 9, when I was not feeling well, and I got sick. So, good luck with that one.

My biggest tip for making cream soups is to use actual cream. Personally, I throw cream, real butter, fresh vegetables of whatever soup I desire, and some seasonings into my Vita-Mix and puree it. If I am in the mood for leaving some chunks in it, I steam some veggies first, don’t puree them, then add them last. I can heat soup right in the Vita-Mix so it is one container to wash. Snap.

Well, that’s it for me. My laptop battery is almost depleted so I am back to camping. Do you have any tips or any great recipes for making a soup base, a cream-of soup, or freezing, canning, or storing soup? I will include linkies this week as a test then will play it by ear. So feel free to use the linky below (will be added by Tuesday, have been unable to add linky on a scheduled post while I am away) to link up to your blog post, email me your recipe, or include it in the comments section! I plan to be back from the wilderness and to my internet connection by Tuesday.

Helllooo Fall. You are hereby invited into my home….

P.S. Next week will be featuring tasty veggie soups,

especially recipes using those seasonal fresh produce from your area!

I hope you join me!

Fall Schmall

Ya, you all just go ahead and eat your pumpkin pie and drink your fresh made apple cider. Here’s my lunch today…

Nothing says summer like a plate of Caprese with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.

I sure wish I was not out of sea salt.

I found the book for $1.50 on my very profitable garage and estate sale perusing this weekend. More on that later. The book is called Time Out Ladies! By Dale Evans Rogers “A dynamic recipe for good living by one of America’s most beloved women”, copyright 1966. I thought it would be fun to see what is the same for women today -- and what is not.

My new 1960’s glass (from the GW) is filled with my favorite iced tea,

sweetened with a tad of real maple syrup.

I’ll be eating pie soon enough.

P.S. By the way, if any of you know anything about that Georges Briard glass, I’d love to hear it. The whole thing is glass, but the bottom has an outer coating of a rubbery, light-yellow coating filled with glitter.

Very different.

Autumn Open House

My sweet blog friend Deena over at "Can I Be Pretty In Pink" is hosting an Autumn Open House from her home in The Singing Woods. Deena shares her story of surviving cancer on her darling blog. Please keep Deena in your prayers. She has three more brain radiation treatments to go.

So, for Deena, and for my other friends who have posted pictures of your fall homes, here are a few from our home in the country.


Most scarecrows protect the harvest from birds. This guy is here to keep the goats away!



Antique bushel basket for prunes, and one of my favorite fall items.



Going down the stairway.


My Grandmother's old Fire King divided dish and two coffee mugs with tea lights in them. She said they came in Gold Medal Flour sacks. The wheat lap try is also from the 50's. And the Ultimate Muffin recipe is from The Lazy Organizer.


Our family started going through this book several weeks ago. Since then, the elections have become more intense and the "bailout" and banking crisis have come upon our country. We definitely see now even more than usual why we need to pray for our great democracy.

My great grandma's old cookbook and some mini fall gourds in a Plantation patterned Heisey glass candy dish.


My Little Man's ET finger touching one of the pumpkin lights I bought for his first birthday party last year. I cannot believe he will be two on Friday.


Painted in a warm tone of a butterscotch shade, our living room is kind of fallish year round.




Some friends got together last year and made these adorable placemats with our little girls. I don't usually like fake candles, but my baby has climbed up on the table a couple times lately. Better safe than sorry!



These are mercury glass pumpkins I bought several years ago on clearance. I love them in our entryway.

One of the best things about fall decorations is that, after you put a couple harvest specific ones back in the attic at the end of October and add a couple Thanksgiving items, you can leave them out until the end of November!

Iced Tea and Salad Weather

I agree with Sarah, it is too hot to cook. When it gets hot I love to eat grilled veggies, fresh veggies, luscious salads and sushi, and drink lots of iced drinks. I like iced tea, iced coffee, fruited water, Mojitos For All (recipe another day) and any other icy invention I can come up with.

My specialty in summer is salad. I love to make them. I love to invent them, quirk up a recipe or concoct. I rarely make one the exact same way twice because I like to play around with the ingredients. And I LOVE to eat them!

One yummy hint is to use lettuce, one kind of cheese, one kind of nut and one kind of fruit with a vinaigrette or fruit vinaigrette dressing. This is always yummy and gets rave reviews. And you can add chicken to make it a meal (think Hawaiian and use pineapple, cashews, grated swiss and some grilled chicken).

I have several favorite salad recipes and I thought I'd share one with you since I have BB anyway. I think I might have a picture somewhere. If I find it I will post it. Let me know if you like it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Do you have any recipes that don't heat up the house?



Luscious Salad

Put about 1 cup - 1 and 1/2 cups of slivered almonds in frying pan to toast (I don't really measure). When they begin turning light brown, add about 1/4-1/2 cup sugar and stir until sugar starts to melt. Be careful, it can start to burn really quickly. Turn out onto tin foil or waxed paper to cool.

While almonds are cooling, mix up a batch of dressing by adding about 1 cup olive oil (if it is warm enough for coconut oil to be runny not solid, I sub a tablespoon or so for same amount of olive oil) 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar and 4 T sugar. This usually makes enough for a pretty big salad. My family is fairly large:)

Concoct:I play around with pure maple syrup or honey too and it adds a nice flavor and often is sweet enough that I don't need any sugar. If you have berries that are still good but not very firm, you can blend them with the dressing to add even more fruity taste throughout the entire salad. Also, if you use any canned fruit, substitute some of the juice for some of the sugar and vinegar.


Put desired amount of lettuce varieties in large bowl, in bite sized pieces.

Throw in some thinly sliced celery and about a cup of dried berries. I have used cranberries and blueberries, but any dried berry - or even raisins would work fine.

Stir in dressing, just enough to coat what's in your bowl.

You'll want as many types of fruit as you can get for the rest, preferably fresh and local when possible. I like to cut up some of it and mix it in (do those that are more difficult to keep pretty when you cut, like mango), then I layer the others so it looks pretty. I love fresh peaches with mango, blueberries and strawberries best. But I throw in tangerines, bananas, pears, canned mandarin oranges -- whatever I have around and looks good.

Pour more dressing over top.

Break apart cooled sugared almonds and sprinkle evenly over top.

Sprinkle with about 3-4 Tablespoons chives.

For a twist, add some feta, grated swiss or other cheese. Or add some chicken chunks or a grilled breast of chicken on top. Depending on which fruits you use, grilled fish could be great too.