FLOUR -

 

     My Grandma Margaret taught me a lot about life.  She did that by spending time with  my sister, brother and me, by talking with us, and teaching us how to do things.  There are family pictures of her with my siblings, cousins and me when we were all small children.  I do not remember much of that time, but from the expressions on her face it is obvious she had a hand in the birthday parties and holidays.  It also appears Grandma did really enjoy spending time with us as I was always told.

      She did get me interested in baking.  During a short time while Grandma lived with us, I used to watch her roll out pie dough and make banana pudding (my dad's favorite!).  Her pie dough was tender and flaky and made with either lard or shortening.  Her banana pudding was not from a box, but the custard was cooked on the stove.  After cooling, she let my brother and me help assemble the finished product by layering those special wafer cookies, while she spooned on and spread the pudding.  The topping was not whipped cream, but her own meringue made from beaten egg whites and sugar.  I was always surprised at how that gooey white glob turned into something yummy and sweet.  I was even more surprised that the whole dessert had to go in the oven long enough for the meringue to lightly brown.  The first time I watched the pudding go into the oven, I thought the whole thing would come out melted.  Boy, was I glad it didn't!

This is an unbaked pie shell.  Even with crooked fingers, a characteristic of arthritis in her hands, my grandmother had a way with making the fluted edge come out just right every time.

     It was Grandma who often took my siblings and me around other people.  Many times these were older folks around her age that she and my grandpa had known.  However, they did not ignore me being inquisitive, but included me in much of their conversation.  I'm positive I had no idea just how much I was actually learning from their stories and sometimes explanations when I just thought it was nice to be included.

     But it wasn't just about being with her.  At those times, Grandma was actually teaching us about life and situations with people.  Often she introduced me to other grownups no matter where we were; in the grocery store, on the street, or in the neighborhood.  She not only said, "This is my granddaughter," but included my name as well.  Then she would proceed to tell something about me.  That always made me feel special.  I remember being with her for lunch at the home of a friend.  We ate at the dining room table with pretty dishes and silver (not a common occurrence then for someone under the age of 10!).  Not only did that enable me to participate in conversation, but it encouraged good table manners.  I never realized this until later.  I just remember being glad to be with her. 

     Caring for others was natural for Grandma as she began in her youth by helping with her younger half-brothers and half-sisters.  That carried over with her own family; my grandpa, uncle, and mom.  My mom told me once that she had girlfriends who thought a lot of Grandma because she seemed to care so much.  One even lived with them for a short while.

     But the concern for others did not stop with her family.  Yes, they were her priority, but Grandma also took care of others as she became a nurse.  As an LPN in her day, she wore the starched white dress with white stockings, white shoes, and starched and stiffly folded white cap. I already knew that my grandmother was a people person.  I think her nursing career solidified that idea from all the times any of our family heard a compliment concerning the care they received from her.

 
     When Grandma retired from nursing, she did some private duty sitting for others.  Sometimes that was for people who were elderly or ill and recuperating at home, or with young children whose parents were traveling.  Occasionally I got to go with her to spend the night with the three daughters Grandma would care for when their parents were out of town.  Grandma always took her responsibility seriously, although she made those sleepovers a lot of fun.

     As I got older and my grandmother began to slow down, I would still ride my bike then later, drive my car over to see her.  Despite continued arthritis difficulties, Grandma was always positive and cheerful.  She always wanted to know how I was and I know she expected to hear more than an "okay".  That was fine with me.  Grandma was a great strength to me.  Her support meant so much.  I hope she knew that.

FLOWER -

 

     In honor of my Grandma, I have included a few photos of flowers that were some of her favorites.  The first one is morning glory.  Every summer, Grandma had morning glory growing on her backyard fence.  She could see it from her chair on her screened porch.  There was no favorite color.  She loved them all.  Early morning was the time she loved to sit back there and watch the blooms open. 

     The second photo is a red geranium.  That was her favorite.  She liked the vivid red color that could be seen from the street, and the fact that it would bloom easily all summer. 

     The last photo is of zinnias.  Grandma loved all the colors of zinnias too, and that they were a good cut flower.  It was her idea to have zinnias in my first small flower garden.

Morning Glory vine

Red Geranium

 

Bed of Zinnias

    FLOUR

     You know how it is when you are in an exam room waiting for your doctor and you fiddle through a magazine trying to pass the time?  Well I found a recipe recently while in this precarious state, and was so sure I would like its outcome that I talked the nurse into letting me tear the recipe out of the book.  I never do that!  However, it did help that the magazine was four years old (LOL).  But anyway, as you can see from the photo below, these are Toasty Whole Grain Orange Muffins.  I really do like them.  Yes, they are an alternative from baking something really sweet, but anymore, that's okay with me.  I do like sweet.  My goodness, I grew up with plenty of sweet stuff.  But now, I am really interested in trying recipes that offer healthier options.  I hope you will try these and enjoy them.

Toasty Whole Grain Orange Muffins

     As always, I am only providing information and not gaining anything from anyone for doing so.  I typed the recipe name into the Internet and the same information came up that I read in Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  The link is below and I will comment on just a few things here about what, if anything, I did differently.
     This muffin recipe takes a little more time than most.  It has quinoa in it and unless you have one cup of it as a leftover, then you have to start anew as I did.  But that was okay with me.  I am unaccustomed to having quinoa all the time and did inadvertently make too much.  (Of course I did!)  But I ate the rest with dinner later!  When reading the recipe the first time, the quinoa caught my eye immediately.  I have eaten quinoa on only a few occasions and liked knowing this would be another way to enjoy it.
     After you make the quinoa and it has cooled, it must be baked with the chopped walnuts and rolled oats.  After 10-12 minutes, this mixture must cool slightly before adding to muffin batter.  Yes, you could probably just put everything in without baking the nutty mixture, but I believe your muffin product would be gummy and undesirable. This baked whole grain addition gives the muffins crunch and texture.
     You do need to have a medium size orange and a means to grate the orange peel.  The orange provides a mild but definite citrus flavor.  Most other ingredients are standard, except for buttermilk AND sour cream.  The day I made these I had no buttermilk and used cream that was near its expiration.  Three tablespoons of butter is listed as a wet ingredient.  I only had margarine and substituted that.
     My suggestion would be to make your quinoa the night before.  Then you would be ready to start your recipe by baking the grain mixture first.  The recipe in its entirety can be found with a click below and you will also see the start to finish time is 50 minutes.....and well worth your efforts!

  bhg.com/recipe/toasty-whole-grain-orange-muffins/    


     And... Do you know what would go well with those muffins?  When you click on the link for the recipe, the very last thing one would read is that the muffins can be served with orange marmalade.  Sounds good, right?  Especially since there is orange zest in the muffins.  I actually had seen a recipe for orange marmalade and contemplated making some BEFORE I found the quinoa muffin recipe.  So when I stumbled upon the BH&G article, I knew I would make the marmalade as well.  Here is the link below taken from one of the Barefoot Contessa shows on the Food Network.  Again, I am only sharing information...but like the muffins, this marmalade is scrumptious.

My stash of orange marmalade for the frig.

     I was a little leery at first, wondering if I could accomplish the task of making oranges, lemons and sugar actually taste like something since I do not preserve fruit often.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  My end result is sweet, even though I did cut the amount of sugar to about six and a half cups instead of eight.  I would rather taste the tartness of the orange and lemon with the sweet of the sugar instead of getting an all sweet bite.
    About the only thing I could say otherwise is that the recipe is time consuming.  I actually like that it begins on one day and ends on the next.  The cooking involved on the second day turned into about 4 hours for me, including the water bath processing I chose to do.  My added cooking time was probably due to my caution as to not boil or burn the fruit mixture.  But the marmalade finally passed the firmness test.  Like I said, I chose to process mine in a water bath and ended up with eight half pints.  However, there wasn't enough room for the near cup full that was left in my pan.  So...that orange deliciousness got stashed in my frig.  Besides, I had to have something to pair with my muffins, right?

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/annas-orange-marmalade-recipe-1946762 

& FLOWER

     I was hesitant when I first decided to try growing an orchid.  I didn't know if I could wait patiently for it to bloom, much less keep it alive until it reached that stage.  I read about their care and do try to keep any orchid in an environment as close to its natural one as possible.  I only water them when they are dry, which in my house is once a week.  However, they do not like to sit in water and I drain their bottom tray if it becomes full.  I put orchids in my north window or my south window.  In winter I try to keep them from cold drafts.  In summer they go outside on my south facing porch with many of my other plants.  I position them back against the house and under some larger plants as much as possible.  Following these things, I have been able to enjoy blooms most every spring, unless an orchid as been newly potted the previous year.

   Even when it's still too cold to garden outside in the early spring, at least I  can enjoy my orchids in bloom.  This time of year is when they most often appear, even though I have had different plants bloom later.  The purple shaded orchid above is the Dendrobium.

This white one above was given to me by a dear friend last fall.  It is a Phalaenopsis and has displayed 13 beautiful blooms for the first time at my house. 

This is a Cattleya orchid.  I love that it has this peachy color with purple on the ruffle.

  

I have read two books this winter and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.  But before I continue to sing their praises, I want to make it known that I am not profiting in any way from either one.  I only want to share this knowledge in case any of you want to read them as well.

     Deep Run Roots, Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South, by Vivian Howard is an amazing book.  It is way more than a collection of recipes.  If anyone has seen her program, "A Chef's Life," on PBS, you know that Ms Howard made the decision to expand her knowledge of local Eastern North Carolina ingredients by talking to farmers and growers of livestock.  Their own experience of how certain vegetables are grown or animals are raised is also included into each broadcast. She additionally has visited and prepared food favorites with family, neighbors, and local cooks.  In this written collection, Ms Howard has taken all of her wealth of information and prepared it literally for your enjoyment.  Her experiences are shared genuinely and honestly, often with a humorous anecdote for each ingredient plus she tells its whole farm-to-table story. Then recipes for each ingredient follow with her own delicious spin.

collard greens

  I will admit that I never learned to eat greens (except spinach and kale), but Deep Run Roots has a couple of recipes with collard greens that might make a believer out of me!



My second book has been the memoir, Make Something Good Today, by Erin and Ben Napier of Laurel, MS.  I am really proud of these two.  This book is a personal reflection of how these two amazing people grew up, found each other, and decided to spend their lives in business together; only one of which is the popular HGTV show, "Home Town."  Their respect and devotion for each other, values, morals, work ethic, and creativity give a lot of insight as to why their program is successful.   Congratulations Ben and Erin!  Your show makes me want to visit Laurel.

FLOUR

     Who's made strawberry bread?  Recently I followed a strawberry quick bread recipe and scooped the batter into a muffin tin instead.  They turned out well despite the change.  I often try different things at the last minute.  

strawberry muffin

     There are actually several recipes for strawberry quick breads on the Internet.  The recipe I used was basic: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, egg, vegetable oil, and strawberries with about a fourth cup of their juice.  I believe any basic quick bread recipe that allows the addition of fruit would work. Some of the recipes I've read call for frozen berries in order to make this bread any time of the year. Since I used fresh strawberries purchased from a local store, I went ahead and incorporated the two cups of sugar my recipe called for.  Had the berries been seasonal and come from a local grower, I would have used less sugar.  Some recipes call for the addition of toasted pecans or walnuts.  I did not add chopped nuts this time, but may do so in the future.  The only other thing to consider is color.  Depending on your berries, sometimes strawberries do not bake as red as they seem before entering the oven.  A few recipes I read suggested the addition of red food coloring.  It's your call, but I would not add more than one teaspoon.
     I believe this bread is versatile enough to be made into large or small loaf pans or baked into muffins as I did.  For my muffins, I just adjusted the baking time as you would have to do if baking in a container different from what your recipe specifies.  I thought the bread I made had a wonderful, slightly sweet strawberry taste.  It made me think more of the coming of spring.

 

& FLOWER

      I know many of you have purchased amaryllis bulbs before.  This is one I had a few years ago that my sister-in-law gave me.  

blooming amaryllis

  

     If you have never kept the bulb so it would bloom again the following year, it is actually quite simple.  When the blooms die, go ahead and cut the stem back to within an inch of the bulb and continue treating the amaryllis like it was any other house plant.  Here's where I tried something different.  When the weather was warm, I planted this bulb outdoors in one of my flower beds.  That's right.  I just dug a whole and placed the bulb in the ground and covered it up.  I do remember letting the very tip of the bulb show.  All summer long the bulb grew several leaves, was fertilized, received adequate sunlight and watered like the other flowers and shrubs nearby.  When fall came, I dug the bulb and let it dry in a dark place inside my garage for a few weeks.  I was not timely about getting it out for the holidays, even though I think it would have done well regardless.  After Christmas I potted the bulb and began treating it like a house plant again.  The red blooms you see in the photo above  were my reward.  It just takes a little patience and remembering what those long green stems are growing in your flower bed.  It can be done, and is well worth the effort!

 

While on a trip once my husband and I saw these amaryllis bulbs and what we know as "Easter lilies" blooming in an actual bed.  Granted they were surviving in a tropical climate, but as you can see, with the right temperatures, it can be done.

WITH SUEZ -- If you want to have an ending, make sure you have a beginning.

     To say that I am a nut about genealogy is an understatement.  I remember one event more than others when I think about what drew my attention to the past.
     Many years ago I was at my grandma's house one afternoon while my mom was running errands.  While there, I noticed a big box of pictures on the floor of my grandma's closet.  I asked her if I could look at them and as with most everything else, she let me.  I dragged the box into her living area and next to her favorite rocking chair.  She told me to dump the pictures out onto the rug.  I then sat down on the floor beside her and began asking about the identities of each person.  TALK ABOUT PATIENCE!  I remember thinking that some of the people looked funny to me, the way they were dressed, or what they were doing when the picture was taken.  A young likeness of my grandma's sister-in-law was in one photograph.  (See similar likeness below.) Her silky hair was dark brown with waves cascading all the way down her head from her part to the ends.  Later on I learned that the look was created from a permanent wave machine that made the female getting her hair styled appear as if she was hooked up to a large spider.

Example of permanent wave

     I continued to get those pictures out multiple times when I visited my grandma until I felt like I knew who was in each picture.  Grandma got to where she would quiz me to see if I really did remember.  I enjoyed seeing how Grandma looked like her father and how her son, my uncle, resembled her.   I also learned a lot about where family members worked and where they lived, especially if it was different from my hometown.
     It became kind of funny in my family when (not to be morbid) someone would pass away and there were photographs shared or letters exchanged.  My parents would hand me a lot of the information because I was always asking questions about relatives.  If there were pictures, one or both parents would say, "Give them to Sue." 
     My mom and dad really weren't surprised at my interest.  I had been keen on American history since first introduced to it in school.  That spurred me to enjoy reading biographies and virtually anything that included a historical event or reference.  World history, Latin, art history, and more came later.  As I grew up and my interest continued, I began to write distant cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., to see if I could learn anything more about either side  than what my immediate family had already shared.

     If you want to know more about your family history, you need to ask questions.  Depending on your situation it could mean a LOT of questions.  That will give you a beginning which will be the foundation for all you learn hereafter.  Just like building a house, you have to build from the ground up.  As you learn things, fill in a family tree template like the one shown at right to help keep you focused.
     Even though I have been interested in my past for quite a while, there are things today I wish I had asked about and failed to do.  And those people I would have asked are now gone.  For example, I am still trying to find connections to complete all the lines going back in my family history and have recently "hit a wall" with a maternal line.  And the person I need more information on is my beloved grandmother's own grandmother.  See what I mean about asking questions?  Make sure you do so, sooner than later.

FLOUR -- Still sometimes learning the hard way

     Recently I began reading recipes for sprouted grain bread or bread with grains one has ground.  I really liked the healthy aspects of both of them; more nutrients, fiber and protein.  I even let my excitement get the best of me (go figure!).  I mean the idea of making this really healthy bread was going to be great (right??).  So, I ordered the whole list of bean, pea, and grain assortment to make one Ezekiel bread recipe.  But when it came down to it, I was not prepared to make this bread because I did not have the right equipment (despite hoping I did).  I loved the idea of grinding my own flour (which this particular recipe required), but my multi-functioned blender and my excitement was not enough to get the job done. And my food processor would not have done the job either.  Some articles and recipes I have read recommend a coffee mill or grain mill for grinding, neither of which I have.  I've even read where someone used a meat grinder (????).  So long story short, I attempted to grind the dry peas, beans, and grains called for and went about adding the yeast mixture and remaining ingredients.  Let's just say the finished product did not stay in the house long.  It became food for the neighborhood bird population who were probably mad at me for giving it to them.  LOL!  

hand crank grain mill

     So if you are interested in making sprouted bread or bread from your own ground grains, make sure of your equipment beforehand.  Also read, read, and read again about how to make the various recipes before purchasing and diving right in.  Actually I now see this sprouted bread experience in three phases.
     1.  You can always buy all natural ground flour from your favorite grocery or health food store.  That way you can use the natural whole wheat or alternate flour first in your chosen recipe and see if you will like the outcome before you get in too deep.  Then if you want to grind your own grains, you can consider how to get the job done whether it entails making an equipment purchase or not.  
     2.  Also, I have since read more and like the idea of sprouting wheat berries for a recipe, drying them in a low temperature oven, then grinding them in a blender to go into a bread recipe.  It is also possible to sprout your wheat berries, grind them in your food processor, and add them to your recipe without drying.  

wheat berries

     3.  There are also bread recipes for using sprouted grains and adding no flour.  That method means extra attention to the sprouting process and particular timing in the bread making process.  I will only try this last process after I get confident with the first two.
     So I will try, try again.  Hopefully I will have good fortune in sprouted bread baking in my future.....and you will too!