Out with the old

 In a moment of boredom I decided to dust the cookbook shelves.  Yes I have two plus an overflow.

This was a cookbook that one of Far Guy's old girlfriends gave him us as a wedding gift back in 1969.  So it has been used and appreciated for the last almost 57 years.

Many pages were falling out.  I will be able to have the best used pages for a long time now that they are  on the blog.

My original Pumpkin Bread recipe from Joyce.  She used to make it for her Grands and so now I make it for mine.  There is a Gluten Free option...take and mix everything up except the flour.  Then take 3 1/2 plus 1/3 cup cups of the 7 2/3 cups and then add your gluten free flour a bit more than 1 1/2 cups.   I used half the recipe for my Dad and I always put the batter in cupcake liners (bake about 20 minutes) so he could put some in the freezer and take them out as he wanted them.  Note I use a whole can of pumpkin:)

My Ginger Snap tried and true recipe...not sure who I got it from.

Recipe from my Maternal Grandmother Drewes...I think she gave it to me over the phone one day when I had ample cucumbers and dill.  These are by far my favorite pickles...either sliced or as spears...I prefer the sliced:)  This is the goup that you cook up to pour over the prepared jars filled with a head of dill on the bottom and filled to the neck of the jar with cucumbers.  Grandma never processed the pickles...she said they had enough vinegar to kill germs.  She had to think about the recipe a bit...hence the crossed out parts.  Oh yes I recall a slice of onion at the bottom of the jar!

And these are going along to Book Club for an exchange.  We meet in person one time a year.

Six recipe books out and no more coming in...now I do not have an overflow problem!

Nice day on Wednesday.  I took care of some weeds in the rocks and on the patio. 

Minnesota Weather: High 78F or 26C  Low 58F or 14C

What's Cooking?  Ribs in the crockpot, corn on the cob and yellow pear tomatoes...perfect!  We would have had Green Beans but there was a Green Bean incident...one should not leave beans cooking on the stove and take a couple of phone calls and be off in la la land:(

Far Side

Cookbooks and Shiny Brites

We went to several garage sales on Saturday. 

I purchased several cookbooks.  The lady there said “Oh you are going to cook!”  I replied “No I am only going to read them.”  I like reading cookbooks, they are like short stories.   I mix the contents in my head and see if I can figure out if we will like it or not.  Or not happens a lot around here…as we are pretty much plain meat, potato, vegetable and fruit people.  I am very allergic to some foods…so food adventures are best kept to a minimum.

The one from Iowa is an Italian Cookbook…I know nothing of Italian food but there must have been a few Italians in Iowa to write the book.  The Akeley Minnesota Centennial Cookbook should be great fun to read, Akeley is about 45 miles away.  The cookbook from Nye Montana is a Community Cookbook, Nye is a little berg with 272 people in South Central Montana.

Found some Shiny Brites. Some that I have only coveted in antique shops.

These I call Frosted Shiny Brites.

These are from West Germany. Not technically Shiny Brites …more like Mercury Ornaments trimmed with glitter. They are most likely from the 1950’s.

This is the whole box.  It was a dollar.  I was pleased.  There are three other Shiny Brites in the box and one satin thread ball from the 1970’s.

Chance is still enjoying his company. 

Reading

I have discovered another way to hoard books.  How many books can a Kindle Fire hold?

I have 51 books on the Fire.  Should I delete them after I read them?  I have four that I could delete.

I have enough books hidden in this house to start a small library.  I was always afraid I would run out of things to read during the winter.  Fat chance that will happen.

At one time in my life I fantasized about having a library room full of books from floor to ceiling with one of those ladders on rails..I could whip around the room finding the book I wanted and then stretch out in a window seat and read the day away. The room would not have a phone and the fireplace would always be lit..

I bought a book for $2 at a garage sale yesterday. Nebraska Pioneer Cookbook.

It has some great recipes.  I like to read cookbooks..I have already gotten $2 worth of smiles from reading it.

Popcorn Pudding

Soak two quarts of freshly popped corn in three pints of sweet milk overnight.  When ready to bake, add three well beaten eggs, a pinch of salt and sugar to taste. Bake like a custard pudding.

Sweet Milk is just regular milk..and custards are sometimes put in a pan and baked in a slow oven 325 degrees or in a warmer oven (350 degrees) in custard cups that are in a pan that is partially filled with water.

I have never made a custard…but I think I have eaten them when I was in grade school.

Right now I am trying to read my camera manual, it is real dry reading..that cookbook was just a distraction.

Chance and I went out and watched the sunset last night:)