Category Archives: Flashbacks & My Old Posts

Cheese Puffs, a Cautionary Tale – Flashback Friday

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Sometime ago, I was cutting across our local department store trying to take the shortest route between the craft isle to the fishing isle where my husband was shopping. I was weaving in and out of isles I don’t usually frequent and as I darted through the party favor isle my eyes happened upon these wonderful little tongs.I had been searching for little tongs like this for years. It never occurred to me to check in the party stuff for them. There’s 6 of them for less than $2.00. I happily put them in my cart and bought them.These little tongs are perfect for cheese puffs, pickles, chips, marshmallows or most any little snacks.
I usually use a fork to eat cheese puffs with. I like the tongs much better.

As I was photographing the tongs to make a post about how handy they are, I remembered a fun post from my ex-blog about cheese puffs. I dug through my files, found the post and made a few edits. Since I don’t have that blog anymore and I have several New Blogging Buddies & Readers, I’m going to post it again.
It makes me smile to share this with you. I hope it gives you a bit of a smile too.
~*~

Cheese Puffs, a Cautionary Tale

When my grandson was a little boy, he’d asked me many times, “Grandma, Why do you eat Cheese puffs with a fork? You’re the only person I know that eats cheese puffs with a fork.”
I’d tell him, “I don’t like to get the cheese crumbs under my fingernails.”
But for some reason, my explanation would get lost and again, the next time he had cheese puffs, even if I didn’t eat a one, we’d have the same conversation.I was thinking about cheese puffs and my grandson asking me over and over again about why I eat them with a fork. I remembered a fond childhood memory about a funny conversation I had with a special Uncle about cheese puffs. For a few minutes I mused if maybe it has something to do with my odd quirk of character of eating cheese puffs with a fork.

When I was a child, we had a big family. Chili was an affordable hearty food to feed many hungry mouths. Unfortunately, I was the only member of the family that couldn’t eat chili. It just didn’t agree with me. So, When Mom would make chili, she’d have my Dad take me to the local grocery store and buy me a can of chicken noodle soup and a bag of cheese puffs.
Also whenever I had a cold or tummy ache or other childhood ailment, cheese puffs and chicken noodle soup was a couple of foodies that would pull me through.I had a wonderful Uncle who was big as a mountain with a heart as big as the sky. He loved to tease us young’uns. He and my Aunt happened to be visiting once when Mom made up a huge batch of chili. Mom and my Aunt took me to the store and bought me my chicken noodle soup and cheese puffs.

That evening when everyone had finished their chili, I was still munching on my cheese puffs, I had learned to make them last since they were a rare treat.
My Uncle asked me why I was eating chicken noodle soup and cheese puffs instead of chili.
I told him that I couldn’t eat chili. I then offered him a cheese puff.
He said he would never eat a cheese puff because he didn’t trust them.
Then he told me an amusing story that has stuck with me my whole life.

My Uncle said when he was a little boy, he loved eating cheese puffs. Unfortunately, his hands would get cheese crumbs all over them and he’d need to wipe them a lot. He didn’t have a napkin handy and didn’t want to ruin his shirt or pants, so he’d wipe his hands off in his hair. And oh what glorious locks of hair he bragged he had as boy.
Sadly, one morning after he had eaten a bunch of cheese puffs the night before, he woke up and his hair had turned curly and yellow like cheese puffs and then it all fell out.
This, he explained, was why he was bald-headed even as a grown man because his hair never grew back. He refused to ever eat cheese puffs again. He warned me to be careful because it could happen to me too. Then he gave a hearty laugh and patted me on the head.

I remember giggling at his silly cheese puff story. Even though I knew he made the story up, I kept my hands washed and the cheese puff crumbs out of my hair just to be sure.

I wish my Uncle was still with us, I’m sure he would tell my Grandson the same amusing cautionary tale about eating cheese puffs. I’m so thankful that my Uncle took the time to make up a silly story to share a laugh with me.

~*~

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend filled with smiles and special moments.

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Baked Small Wonder Spaghetti Squash – winter squash

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*This is an Edited post from 2011 from my ex-blog.
I thought it might be helpful to anyone new to small spaghetti squash.

~~~*~~~

Small wonder spaghetti squash are winter squash.
The largest small wonder squash that we
harvested in 2011 was around 6 inches tall.spegsqua2—————–
Here’s how I prepare, bake and serve Spaghetti Squash.
—————-

Baked Spaghetti Squash

The squash skin is tough and quite slick,
so to help keep it stable I set it on an old dishtowel.spegsqua3Carefully cut slits all around the squash.spegsqua4Carefully cut joining slits in spaces between
making one slit around the squash.
*Be extra careful cutting on the bottom dimple and the stem,
they’re terribly tough and hard to cut through.spegsqua5Pull the squash apart & openspegsqua6clean out the seeds and pulpspegsqua7Place halves side by side face down in a baking dish.

*In the bottom of the pan, Add about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of water.

**Check on the water level throughout the baking process.
Add more water if it evaporates too much.

Bake in a 375° preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Stick a fork in the squash to check for tenderness and doneness.

Remove from oven when done and allow to sit for 20 or 30 minutes
or until cool enough to safely handle.spegsqua8Carefully remove squash halves from baking dish
and scrap the spaghetti strings out of them.spegsqua9Add your favorite sauce and serve.

Happy cooking!

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Caterpillar Burger

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We rarely have hotdogs and we had some leftover from the weekend. I decided to cook a hotdog for my lunch. I didn’t have any hotdog buns though. I had only hamburger buns. I wasn’t in the mood to use loaf bread for my hotdog bun and I almost decided not to cook one…
Then I remembered how we used to have quite a bit of fun making hotdog-burgers when I was a little girl. It was such a fun idea and the memories of those days of yore brought a smile to my heart.

*I changed the name of my hotdog-burger to ‘Caterpillar Burger’. Back in 2012, my blogging buddy Tina suggested it and that’s what I’ve called it ever since. Thanks Tina! 🙂

Here’s a set of pictures I took, as I fixed the hotdog,
to share with you, in case you may want to do this too.Down the length of the hotdog, carefully
cut slits a bit more than halfway through.Place the hotdog in a pan of water
on the stove at med high heat.
Heat water to a full rolling boil.Allow it to boil for a few minutes until
the hotdog bends as far as it seems it will.
Carefully remove hotdog from pan of water
and allow to drain on a paper towel or cloth. If need be, Carefully, bend the hotdog into a circle.
Place hotdog on a hamburger bun. You can enjoy it like this or go to the next step.
Place a slice of cheese on top of the hotdog. You can enjoy it like this or go to the next step.
Place bun on a microwavable safe dish,
microwave for a few seconds until the
cheese is just melted over the hotdog. Allow the hotdog to set until
it’s cool enough to safely eat.

Add chili, mustard or ketchup or
your favorite relish and enjoy.

Tah-dah! And there you have it folks a ‘Caterpillar Burger’.

Happy Creative Cooking!

*I don’t know if microwaved hotdogs will cook and bend in a circle, I’ve never tried them.

 

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Farm Kids Quilt (2)

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Repost from –> August 31, 2011 (edited)
My Farm-Kids Quilt is finished
How I quilt a quilt on my regular sewing machine

August 31, 2011 –> I finished my farm-boy & sunbonnet sue quilt today. I’m pleased as peaches with it. Especially since it was the first queen size quilt I ever made. Originally I made the quilt top full-size to fit our bed. I decided to change it to a queen-size because someday we’re going to need a new bed and I figure we’ll buy a queen-size instead of getting another full-size. Because of the extra-added size, I ran into a few issues, but I managed to work them out okay.

I want to share the method I used to quilt it. I’m lousy at taking quilt photos because I can’t get a really good angle, but hopefully, you all can figure out the gist of what I did.

q11) Lay backing on the floor wrong-side up

q22) Lay batting on top of backing

q33) Lay quilt top right-side up on top of batting.

q44) Starting from the outer edge, Use safety-pins to join the top, batting & backing together.
Put safety-pins every so many inches all across the quilt.
q4aI roll the quilt up as I go because it makes it easier to handle.
q5

q65) After it’s pinned all the way across,
unroll quilt and spread it out flat.

q76) Starting at outer edge, roll each side to the middle

q87) Carefully slide the quilt under the pressure foot.

q98) Starting in the middle, Sew in the seam (ditch) or near the seam.
Be careful and remove the safety pins as you go and don’t sew over them.
Unroll the quilt as you go.
After you finish the first half, flip the unrolled half around and place the quilt back under the pressure foot and continue until you reach the outer edge.
*The main idea is to start at the center of the quilt and work your way to the outer edges.

q109) Here’s the finish quilted quilt
It’s 90″x93″ inches

q1110) Above photo is the middle after it’s quilted.

q1211) Here’s what the back of the finished quilt looks like

q1312) Here’s a close up of the back of the finished quilt.

All-in-all I think it turned out quite well.
It’s soft and snugly and will be warm this winter.

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Today, January 24, 2015

q00After I finished the quilt I didn’t like the squared corners, so I rounded them off.
Also, originally, when I made this quilt we didn’t have a queen size bed. I guessed at the dimensions.
We got a queen size bed this past fall and I was surprised delighted to see my quilt fit perfectly.

Wishing you all happy crafting.
t6001
spgrnbgln

Farm Kids Quilt (1)

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frmkds1

Repost from –> July 11, 2011 (edited)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Old Fashioned

The topic for July 11, 2011 week’s photo challenge hit right in sync with what I’ve been up to lately. I get nostalgic from time-to-time and try to find or make something from the past to reconnect with my memories. Gardening season is particularly nostalgic for me because my parents planted a big garden every year. My Mom loved it and spent as much time as possible tending it and harvesting the scrumptious veggies. I’m thankful I live where I can have a garden because gardening makes a special connection of so many treasured memories for me.

This year along with my thoughts of Mom’s joy of gardening came the memories of her joys of sewing and quilting. These thoughts put me into the quilt making mood. I wanted to make one like a sampler quilt of the ‘old fashioned’ designs that were Mom’s and my favorites.  Mom made many beautiful quilts. In the early years all her quilts were to keep our large family warm and snug at night. In later years after we young’uns were grown and in our own homes, she’d make quilts and donate most of them to charities, but a few she gave to family. I have a couple that she made me and I truly treasure them.

I’m having to make the patterns from scratch and it’s not been an easy thing to do. I look online for the closest design and then I take paper, pencil and ruler and make them like I remember Mom’s to have been. I’ve a great admiration for my Mom and the way she would whip through making a pattern by grabbing a piece of paper and scissors and just cut it out freehand with no measuring. After she finished a quilt top, she would either quilt it on her sewing machine or do the tacking method. Mom was a talented seamstress and could sew up most any design of quilt or clothing or anything else without a store bought pattern. She was truly an artist with fabric.

When I started making my quilt blocks I wanted a couple of them to be farm kids. My Mom had a farm-boy quilt top that she made when she was a teenager. She also had an incomplete unfinished farm-girl quilt top. I always loved the quilt tops and wish she had of finished them into full quilts. Every so often, she would take the farm-boy quilt top and lay it out on the bed and speak about it in such loving nostalgic tones. It was just wonderful. Mom hand sewed each applique into place. It must have taken her months of dedicated work to get them all together. I recall that some of the fabric pieces had their own story of where she got them. I wish I could recall everything she’d said about it. The farm-boy squares were pieced together with red fabric borders (that’s the color I remember it to be.) It was such a fun and cheerful quilt top.

I don’t know where Mom’s quilt tops are now and I didn’t have them to go by. I had to create the farm-boy from memory. I couldn’t find anything online that resembled him. There’s a Sunbonnet-Sam but he isn’t like Mom’s farm-boy. It took me a few days, but I finally managed to design what I think is a close rendition of him. The farm-girl was a bit easier, she’s known as Sunbonnet-Sue. She has many variations. I wish I had better memories of her but Mom didn’t get her quilt top out but just a couple of times. I’m lucky I even recall her at all. I think my farm-kids look okay. I cheated and used the sewing machine to applique them on. I’m too lazy and impatient to hand-sew them on.

Anyway, at this moment I have all my blocks made and will make a post on the quilt top when I get it all sewn together. I think Mom would be proud of my efforts. I remember how much she enjoyed when I made quilts for my son and grandson. I sure wish I had her talents for the ease of design and making the quilts. Mom was truly a wonderful homemaker: sewing, cooking, canning, gardening, yardening and so many other things.

Do you ever get in nostalgic moods and try to find or recreate a something from scattered bits of memory? How did it go? Are you like me and fairly satisfied with the results of your efforts?

Wishing you all good old fashioned down-home fun times of making memories and carrying on traditions.

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July 25, 2011

I’m happy to report that
I found time today to finish my quilt top.
I think it turned out pretty well.
quilt-2011
My husband looked at it and told me, “That’s pretty. I feel warmer already.” lol
I hope I get it quilted before winter so we both can feel it’s warmth. :p

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Today, January 23, 2015
Check back soon for the last post of the
quilting and finishing of my Farm Kids Quilt.

Wishing you all a happy weekend.
cloudhug
spgrnbgln

Internet issues update – quilt post plans

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pcstuph0Our internet & phone issues worsened over the past few days.
Today we had the tech-guy visit and fix everything (hopefully).
He even sped our internet up a bit.
Hopefully, we’re ready for smooth surfing ahead.
compu~*~

IMG_8623There’s been some interest in the quilt in the photo with Sheli & my s-loom. I’m going to make 3 posts about the quilt. The posts will be re-post from my ex-blog enjoyingcreating. Some of the content will be updated or edited as needed.

The first post will be about my method of coffee dying one of the appliques.
The second will be the story behind the quilt.
The third one will be the quilting of the quilt on my sewing machine.

I’ll start posting my quilt posts soon… Unless my internet goes down or offline life needs my undivided attention…

sewmiconHave a dandy of the rest of the week!

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spgrnbgln

Using a Mason Jar with a blender For a Single Smoothie

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My sister has one of those handy dandy single smoothie blender thingies. Like a good little sister still following in her big sister’s footsteps, I wanted one too. I use my blender for smoothies. It’s a bit off-putting to have to wash the many parts for one little old smoothie. So, as I said, I wanted a single smoothie maker.

I went shopping around the internet and was quite dismayed by the prices of the better rated single smoothie makers. I was sad and thought that I’d just stick with my blender… ~sigh of dismay~ and then my little old gears began to turn in my mind and brought forth a memory…

Back in 2001, after a stroke, my Mom couldn’t eat solid foods anymore. My Brother was her primary caretaker and he figured out a way to puree several different foods and keep them on hand without having to clean a complete blender every time: he used mason jars instead of the blender’s pitcher container.
It’s such a clever idea, I asked him how he thought of it.
He told me that back in his younger days, he and his friends made daiquiris in mason jars.
I think it was wonderful he remembered it. I believe that God teaches us things to use later on in life, even when we’re not aware of it. I think the lesson of the mason jar and blender was meant to help during the time of his caring for our Mother.
Mom was certainly grateful for his knowledge and tender care in helping her to try and get better. I wish Mom was still with us. I think she would enjoy the smoothie craze. She loved making milkshakes for us young’uns and our Dad. Mom loved making new recipes, especially dessert type foods.

.

After remembering about the mason jar and blender idea, I got a pint mason jar,  put some ingredients in it and happily made a single smoothie.
Goodness it was tasty and clean up was so much easier.

Unfortunately, not all blenders are mason jar friendly. However, if your blender is one that can be used with a mason jar and if you decide to use this idea, some of my following suggestion might be helpful:
-follow blender manufacturers recommendation about ice or frozen ingredients.
-fill the jar only about 3/4 or less of-the-way full,
-make sure the blender collar fits the neck of the jar securely
-use quick ‘pulses’ until you’ve chopped up the crushed ice or/and frozen fruit and/or large chunks of foods. After it’s fairly well chopped up, blend it normally.
-now and then you may need to take the jar off the blender base, leave the blender collar/blades on the jar, shake the food down and then put the jar back on the base to blend some more.
-you can pour your smoothie in a glass or do like I do and drink it from the jar.

I’m glad I remembered the mason jar/blender idea. I use it for more than smoothies. It’s easy to chop nuts, bread crumbs, crackers or other things, put a ring/lid on the jar and save them for later.

Do you have a favorite blender recipe or helpful hint?
Wishing you a smooth rest of the week.

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Flashback Friday – Color Palette Generator – cool online gadget

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smilecI’m posting one of my most favorite gadgets. I found it many years ago when I was doing a lot of web page building. It was very helpful for making a better looking color scheme.

I think this is a really cool online gadget and it may be of
help to anyone who’s wanting to do a color theme around a certain photo:

Color Palette Generator at degraeve.com

All you do is go to the page, enter the url to the image in
their color palette search box thingy and hit enter.  And wah-lah
the matching colors and hex codes for them are right there ready to use.

In other words, if I wanted a color scheme built around my
smiley ball photo: All I have to do is enter my url for my photo
and here are my results:cpg000

 

Pretty neat, huh? 😉

I love cool little gadgets or widgets like this.

Color Palette Generator at degraeve.com

Wishing you all creative fun!

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Flashback Friday – Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Chocolate CupCakes

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img_7299
Today I’ve chosen my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe to share on this Flashback Friday.
I hope you try it and like it as much as we do.

The recipe is called “Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Cake“.
Wow! Isn’t that a tempting lure of a name for a cake recipe. It was more than this ol’ gal could resist.

This recipe is listed at Allrecipes.com. Here’s a direct link:
Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Cake

I made a few miner adjustments to the recipe,
I used olive oil instead of the vegetable oil,
I used lite-salt instead of regular salt
and also I didn’t put chocolate chips in it.

I made the mix into cupcakes, so I can freeze most of them for snacks for another day. The first time I made these, I didn’t think they would look like a normal cupcake. I figured they’d be rather flat looking and flat tasting because the batter is somewhat thin. When I put them in the oven, I thought they may be a waste of time… I even frowned a moment or two… I’m pleased as peaches that these cupcakes proved me wrong and rose quite well.
They have a nice texture and taste really good too. I’m so nicely surprised.

edited in: *It occurs to me that a person could use a sweetener like Stevia and make this an even healthier snack
img_7308

If you try this cake recipe, let me know if
you made changes and how it did for you.

Here’s wishing you a weekend of yummy treats.

chef
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