This is for all of you sewing-and-quilt-making-challenged women out there. I don't sew. I wish I did but I've tried and after several unsuccessful attempts which made people point and laugh at me, I gave up and contented myself with the facts that I'm a darn good gardener, baker and wood splitter. So there. Nyah.

But! I really wanted to try my hand at making a quilt. I bought all the supplies to make a crazy quilt, with all those gorgeous pieces of fabric, ribbons,  glittery thread, etc... and found that a crazy quilt does exactly that - make you go crazy from all the intricate, mind-numbing, tiny little stitches sewing. No thanks.

Then a friend, after hearing me complain that I, a real (sort of) Pioneer Woman, was going to die without ever having made one quilt, wrote some quick instructions down for me for something called a Rag Quilt. She said, "Trust me. Even YOU cannot screw this up." Not sure whether to be offended or not, I ignored her quip and jumped right in.

And voila! A few months later I had produced this mini rag quilt and I was indeed happy. I could now die with at least one baby-sized quilt to pass on like a real Pioneer Woman. Woo hoo!

Rag quilts are extremely forgiving.  You don't have to cut the pieces out and line them up all perfectly. Since the edges are turned up and later "ragged", they hide a multitude of mistakes. You can either go out and buy the fabric yourself to cut into squares or you can just go online, look up "Rag Quilt Kit" and you're on your way.

If I could find the time, I'd make several more of these mini-quilts, sew them together and have a full-size quilt, which I hope to do one day. I love my rag quilt! So proud of my non-sewing-self! 😁

Mountain News Great Discoveries - Castor Oil - Who knew?

Even though I am 53 years old I have never in my life used castor oil. I always thought it was something they used in the Olden Days for constipation and to punish children with, in the sense of, "Johnny? Feeling a little ornery are ya? Here's a tablespoon of castor oil. Fix you right up." with visions of a grimacing and gagging child. Or something like that. It thankfully never happened to me - I got good old fashioned spankings for being ornery. Otherwise I have never given castor oil much thought. But, oh my! What a discovery!

Want to know how I discovered it? Here are the events:

1. Watched an old movie about people heading to Oregon.
2. Where everyone got dysentery and died.
3. Out of curiosity, and for future knowledge in case I ever head to Oregon, looked up dysentery.
4. Discovered that castor oil may keep this sickness from killing you.
5. Happy to know this, for future reference.
6. Read entire article on castor oil.
7. Mind blown.

Ok first of all, contrary to popular belief (ok it's what I thought), it's not a petroleum product, it's actually considered a vegetable oil and very safe. It is fungicidal, a laxative, analgesic and anti-inflammatory! Who knew?! These are the things it supposedly does:

1. Laxative
2.Relieves Sore Muscles
3. Soothes Joint Pain
4. Treats Fungal Infections
5. Promotes Hair Growth
6. Enhances Hair Color
7. Homemade Natural Mascara
8. Deeply Moisturizes Skin
9. Spot Treatment for Skin Problems
10. Natural Sleep Aid
11. Treats Babies with Colic
12. Heals Skin Ailments
13. A Preservative for Food
14. Lubricant for Machinery Parts

Again, who knew??!! The only cautions I found were: do not use if you have an allergy to aspirin and do not use if you are pregnant because it can cause contractions.

It's also supposed to get a sluggish lymphatic system moving, helping to cleanse it, like jumping up and down on those little trampolines is supposed to do. Amazing. This is a miracle product, apparently.

As for my own experience, I just discovered this information recently and I am being the guinea pig and trying it out for y'all because I'm nice that way. One evening I heated some oil up, slathered it all over my hair and left it in overnight. (My husband was convinced all my hair would fall out. It didn't. Nyah.)  The next morning I washed it out and my hair was really soft and bouncy. So, the part about it being good for your hair as a conditioner does in fact seem to be true.

It's also supposed to help you sleep. They (who are 'they' anyway?) suggested you dab a little castor oil on your eyelids right before you go to sleep, which I did three nights in a row. I did sleep well these nights but I usually sleep pretty well anyway so...... not sure about that one.

It does indeed moisturize the skin very well.  I rubbed it on both legs after a shower. And promptly fell asleep. Whether this sudden onset of sleepiness was me just needing a nap or because of the castor oil, is hard to tell. Whether it got my lymphatic system moving is also hard to tell. We'll have to wait and see. (Wonder how you can tell if  your lymphatic system is suddenly woken up and perky?)

I put it on an overuse injury, a sore spot on my elbow, and didn't notice any difference. Also rubbed it on my husband's sore back and he didn't notice a difference either. (He says we must keep trying though in order to be helpful to others. Uh huh. I think he just likes the warm oil rubbed on his back before he goes to sleep at night. But that's being cynical.) So the jury is still out on that one.

Haven't tried it for constipation or fungus because, thankfully, I have neither. Nor do I have a baby with colic - thank God. I mean I'd love to have the baby, just not the colic.

Anyhoo, still experimenting. I plan to buy several big bottles of this stuff to have around. Can't hurt!  I'll let you know what else I find out. :)

Mountain News Favorite Recipes - Gingerbread Snacking Cake

Another favorite Martha Stewart recipe. This is easy and so good. Love having this around, especially at this time of year. You can make it have a bit of a spicy bite if you add pepper!  Oh yeah.......

Gingerbread Snacking Cake

8 Tblsp. (1 stick) butter, room temp
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 tblsp. freshly grated ginger (or more!) (don't worry if you don't have this. It's still good without it.)
2 large eggs, room temp, lightly beaten
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
1-2 tsp. black pepper or 1/2 tsp. cayenne for spicy bite (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 x 13 cake pan.
In a bowl combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, ground spices, salt and baking powder; set aside.
In yet a third bowl, cream butter with a mixer (or by hand), then  beat in brown sugar until well  mixed and fluffy. Beat in molasses and grated ginger, baking soda mixture, flour mixture and eggs. (Add pepper here if you want it.)
Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 30 - 35 minutes. Let cool. Dust with powdered sugar if you want.
This gets better with age. More moist every day. YUM.

Mountain News - I Like To Tweak My Husband - Heh Heh Heh


I like to tweak my husband Butch because, well, he SO deserves it. He just does. Trust me on this one. If you knew him you'd agree. He's a good man, a smart man, a hard-working man but he's a real stinker too sometimes. I, being not so much of a genius, and having a distressing lack of common sense, have often done, shall we say, stupid things? Made unfortunate mistakes around here? I won't go into them because it would take far too long but my mistake-prone self has caused him to act in a way towards me that annoys me at times. Like, when he walks in the door, he automatically asks, "OK, what did you tear up today?" Well. Humph! Nothing! Well, not much anyway. Tsk. Or he will severely scold me when I didn't vent the generator correctly and almost asphyxiated myself and all seven dogs and one cat. Or he goes completely berserk when I set the ten foot pile of wood scraps on fire, ACCIDENTALLY mind you, that made a forty foot high fire that could be seen for miles around. Sheesh.

So needless to say, he doesn't have a lot of confidence in me and honestly I don't blame him but does he have to be such a stinker about it?

Which leads me to the understandable desire to tweak him sometimes. It totally makes my day.

Our tractor takes diesel fuel, NOT gasoline. I told him one day with the innocence of a puppy and a very I'm-so-proud-of-myself-smile, "Hey guess what? I filled the tractor with gasoline today all by myself!" His eyes popped out of his head and he swallowed and slowly asked, "Uh you mean diesel, don't you? PLEASE tell me you didn't put gasoline in the tractor." I just looked at him with my best stupid face like, "Huh?" Tee hee!

Another time, because it didn't occur to me to check the spring when it got below -10 degrees for a week (DUH!), I had let the spring freeze so hard and solid that it took  me an entire week to chop through the top of the 4-inch thick ice so we could get water. (I never let it freeze like that again I can tell you.) Butch of course rolled his eyes at me for letting it get that way. Roll your eyes at me will you? He seriously needed to be tweaked. So when he got home one day I said, again with evident pride in my geniousness, "Hey! Guess what? I figured out how to get rid of the ice in the spring and it worked like a charm! I poured 'Ice Melt' on top of the ice in our water tank! Good idea right?" All he did this time was put his head down on the table and groan. (I guess I should have been insulted that he actually believed I would have done something quite THIS dumb but I was too busy enjoying his discomfort.) That was a good one. Hee Hee!

Our tractor is expensive (to us) and absolutely indispensable to our life here. It. Is. IMPORTANT. ok?  So , naturally, it is often the subject of the tweaking. He got home one day and I said, "Ok, in my defense..." to which he begins to hold his breath and veins pop out on his neck. I continued, "I used the tractor to jumpstart the riding lawn mower and I accidentally let the two hooky-up things touch after I attached the hooky-up things to to the tractor and there was this pop and a smell and now the tractor won't start." He then fainted. Har har!

Oh wait. This wasn't a tweaking, I really did that one. Oh well, still got him good. And being the genius he is, he went out, fiddled around under the  hood of the tractor for like two seconds and got it running again. Thank God. Phew! All's well that ends well. Ha HA!  Stinker. I kind of feel sorry for him though. Maybe I shouldn't tweak him so much. I do kind of deserve the bad attitude. I have made a few mistakes around here. Hmmm...... Ok, I hereby resolve to give this poor man a break and not tweak him. Any more. This year. ;)

Mountain News Recipes - Real Comfort Food Chicken

One of my favorite ways to eat chicken. Quick, easy, total comfort food. It doesn't last long. VERY fattening! Which is why it's SO yummy! :) Reminds me a little of Turkey Tetrazzini and as a matter of fact, it's a great way to use up leftover turkey.

Poppy Seed Chicken

1 lb. chicken (white meat or dark, could use four chicken breasts), boiled or baked and then cubed
8 oz. sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom or cream of chicken - either works
3 Tblsp. poppy seeds
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers
1 stick butter, melted

Combine the chicken, sour cream, soup and poppy seeds. Mix well. Place in a greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Crush the crackers and mix with melted butter and sprinkle on top of chicken (OR crush the crackers, sprinkle these on top of the chicken then pour the melted butter over all - my preferred way). Cook for another 7 minutes or until browned. Serve over buttered egg noodles. Serves 4. Doubles easily. Keeps and reheats well too. YUM.

Mountain News Recipes - Hummus and Pita Bread

Hummus.... yummmmm....... I used to buy hummus at our favorite local Greek Food restaurant and then realized I could make it at home very easily. I also figured that I could figure out how to make Pita bread. How hard could it be? Turns out, not very hard at all. They both turned out delicious and one of my favorite things to have around the house. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Hummus

1-2 garlic cloves (or A LOT more)
3/4 tsp. salt (preferably kosher or sea salt because they are bigger and chunkier and more mild)
2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup yogurt
juice of two lemons (fresh or bottled)
4-6 Tblsp. olive oil (I use way more)
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika

Place garlic and chickpeas and salt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin and paprika and process again until smooth. Taste for seasoning. I always seem to want more salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Make it according to your tastes! You can also add parmesan cheese if you like it thicker and richer.

Easy Peasy Pita Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tsp. yeast
1 Tblsp. sugar
1 Tblsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt (kosher or sea salt preferable but not necessary)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Oil for greasing

Beat together water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and whole wheat flour until creamy. Add all-purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a smooth dough. Knead until velvety and springy, a few minutes should do it.

Put in  oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Put a baking stone in oven to get good and hot or a cookie sheet. (These can also be made on a hot grill.)

Gently deflate dough and divide into 2 portions. Divide one of the portions into 8 chunks and form each into a ball. Let rest 10 minutes while dividing the other portion into 8 chunks and making them into balls also. You'll have 16 balls in all.

Flour surface and roll each ball into a 6-inch circle about 1/4th inch thick.

Transfer dough circles to hot stone or cookie sheet, as many as will fit and close oven door. Don't open door for 8 minutes, then check them. They should be puffed and light brown. Remove to a rack and let cool (or not. I eat them hot.)

*Some of them won't puff and it's no big deal. They still taste just fine. These keep well in a plastic baggy. My dogs LOVE these too. ;) Enjoy!

Mountain News Great Discoveries - Making Your House Smell Soooo Nice

I like for my house to smell really good. I used candles, Febreeze and Plug Ins for years but then I stumbled across the most wonderful thing that works so well. I've been using it for over 25 years and it's my favorite way to make my house smell lovely. It works so well in fact, that you have to use it for short stretches of time or you'll choke everybody out.

What is it you ask? It's called an Effusion Lamp. I read somewhere that the French invented it (of courses they did!) to use in hospitals to make them smell nice. It burns alcohol and an oil-based scent and if I'm not mistaken is safer than candles and Plug Ins.

I bought mine over 25 years ago and although I have had to buy a couple new burner wicks in that time, it is still going strong. The glass bottles are really beautiful and come in all colors. The brand I use is La Tee Da Fragrance and they have many different fragrances.

You light it and then blow it out and the scent fills your house. Because it's oil based, the scent lingers for days. You don't have to use it every day. I can usually leave it burning for only an hour or so or it gets too heavy. This really works well. I love it. It's my favorite. The initial expense isn't much, the fragrances last forever and are also  inexpensive.  Very well worth the cost. Highly recommend!