Something to sink my toes into..

After getting out of the shower and sinking my toes onto cold tile I have decided that I needed a little rug to sink my toes into. And since I am an avid collector of craft, diy, and how to books from all different eras I figured why not make something from one of my fun vintage craft book collection. So I have pulled out the first rug book I came across, Beautiful Rugs Star Book No. 73 published 1950. I am browsing to see what appeals when I come across this braided rug pattern that reminds me of the one my mom had when I was a child. I do believe we have a winner. Although there was a lot of fun funky patterns. One for a horse, leaves, a duck, even a mexican having a siesta. Looks like my addiction to collecting old crafty stuff is going to pay off and keep my toes warm. Now I just have to remember where I put my yarn....

Salad, thou hast decieved Paula

Ever order something and get something that was totally not what you were expecting? I have had a few surprises in my life with this but nothing like what poor Paula experienced upon ordering the nacho salad.

We were not that hungry so Paula and I decided to order a small lunch, especially as Paula was planning a big dinner in about 4 hours from then. I was having trouble between getting a soup or sandwhich, hungry enough for a soup but was not sure if it would fill me. So I got a half sandwhich and a soup. Paula wanted a simple salad but was craving nacho's so she decided to get the nacho salad. Now when my order came I was a little surprised as the "half" sandwhich was the size of a whole in my opinion. But my surprise was nothing compared to Paula's "salad". It was delivered on what looked like one of those platters you would serve a whole turkey on during Thanksgiving. I think the picture I took of Paula when the waiter placed that nacho salad in front of her says it all. It took three take out boxes to carry that salad home. Now if only I could get a income tax return that was as surprisingly large as that salad....

Books books and more books.

I love books. Got a collection of books and keep adding to them. Some fiction but mostly "how to" and diy books. My most recent aquisitions are 7 diy books. I got the Consumer Reports book on Auto Repair, a book on RV restoration and repair, 3 books on how to preserve and store your garden harvest, and two cook books. One of the cookbooks is the 1885 Nevada Cookbook. I love old cookbooks, you can get some great tastey recipes from there. My favorite cold slaw recipe came from the first World Trade Fair's Cookbook. The preservation books will be good for learning about how to make the most of my garden harvest and they have some interesting recipes. I figure the RV repair book might come in handy as one of my wishlist hope to own and use before I die items is an Airstream. I love the look of those silver bullet trailers. As I cannot afford the price of the new ones, my best bet will be to get a fixer upper. I got the autorepair book because I would like to learn more about how to fix and maintain my car. Would save me money and it is useful knowledge to have. I have books all over the place. In the bedroom, kitchen, living room.. the only place I do not have books is in the bathroom, too wet and tiny. I am addicted to books that teaches something usefull or fun. I got craft books from all different eras, ettiquet books, repair books, books on origami and napkin folding.. if it teaches something that I am interested in or might be interested in doing at some point I will get it. Speaking of which, I think there is a book calling me now..

Frosted Ducks

The reason I live in Florida is the fact that it is warm. No snow and ice to slip and slide on. No frozen toes. No runny nose due to cold. So it's really annoying when we have cold weather here because not only is it cold but it's that damp cold that seems to seep right through those so called "protective layers" and freeze the bones. I have to suffer through the runny nose and the frosted toes through layers of socks and boots. My poor southern body just was not made for cold weather. I am like some kind of Irish/English/German American two legged lizard that absorbs the surrounding temperature and tries to leech of heat from any source available (sorry sweetie, god made you a human furnace to keep me alive). I have been to snowy areas and lived in snowy areas but I always move back to florida for one reason and it's the same reason the ducks fly south for winter. So I don't freeze my tush off in winter. A frozen duck may sound kinda funny in a slapstick kinda way but in the end you feel sorry for the poor feathered s.o.b. as you shake your head and walk away. Unless you are one of those northern abominable snow people who like to play hockey with iced ducks.

Cooking and Foodie Memories

With all the garden bed prep work and seed planting, I have been dreaming of vegetables and tasty meals. Fresh squash from the garden cooked with some butter and served with some saffron rice. Fresh tasty peppers stuffed and served with some homemade tomato sauce. Getting fat just thinking about all the yummy food I can make from my garden. Paula and I have started out good so far with our seeds, lots of sprouts. Only problem is that we have a bit of a cold front here right now so have to wait to plant them into the garden bed. We're thinking of scavenging for some old wire hangers and bending them into a U shape to put over the container we have the sprouts in, and then putting some clear vinyl over it to make a taller greenhouse to give them a little more room to grow.

With all the vegetables we have been plotting to grow I have been thinking of food preservation and canning to make the most out of our future harvest. I have fond memories of different canned foods received from gardening friends. Peach jams, kosher dill pickles, and dee-lishious tomato sauces. After some research, I have decided to try both the water bath and pressure canning recipes and compare. I have the equipment just not the experience, so I have been asking a lot of questions and reading on the subject. Thankfully, Paula has some experience so this will not be a total shot in the dark attempt on my part. Another bonus to growing my own vegetables is the savings on my checkbook. The cost of vegetables has gone up insanely, vegetables laced with gold or expensive pharmaceuticals, so growing my own will save me money. And by preserving the harvest it will last longer and be more savings. Super all around.

Last but not least, I have also been researching different canning recipes and fresh vegetable cooking recipes. I have come across I highly recommended kosher dill pickle recipe, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dill-Pickles/Detail.aspx , that I really look forward to trying. I am collecting recipes to try with my future harvest. I also have been re-watching a lot of my favorite cooking pod casts and blogs for ideas. I love Cooking with Clara and have her book and video on my wish list. If you don't know about this awesome granny then check out her website, http://depressioncooking.blogspot.com/ . I found her while looking for some depression era recipes way back when she first got on YouTube and feel in love. While cooking she talks about her memories of the recipe and things that were happening in her life when she learned it. If you like history and cooking, then you will love Clara. Also have been browsing the blogs for recipes too as I hear they are ripe for the picking when it comes to tasty recipes.

Help out the newbie! If you have any canning recipes you would recommend or just recipes involving fresh veggies that you would like to share then don't be a stranger, share! Who knows maybe someone will post something you would like to try. :)