Puttering.....

I've been puttering in

the cottage kitchen this 

frosty Winter day.

I thought I would share a 

pie crust recipe I use.

 A friend shared it with me

when I told her I have never been

able to make a good pie crust.

This day I made

Dear One his favorite 

pumpkin pie...

This crust can be made in

your pie plate.

Simply place 

2 cups flour

1/2 cup olive oil

4 Tablespoons water

a dash of salt

into your pie plate 

and mix to form a ball...

This recipe makes a 

great crust that is very flaky...

Press and shape the dough

to fit a 9 inch  pie plate.

Next pour pumpkin pie filling into the crust

and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes,

then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and

continue baking for 30 more minutes.

My filling recipe is...

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 whole eggs

1- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

1 cup whole milk

whisk ingredients to blend well

pour into crust

Another meal this week 

was soup from left over roast,

plus some ground chicken I needed to use,

I added veggies and brown rice with seasoning.

I made blueberry muffins also...

I love to keep the cottage warm

on these frosty days with a pot

of soup bubbling on the stove.

I've done a lot of 

dehydrating and vacuum sealing

 the last few years

and have used up quite a bit.

It's getting time again

to restock the pantries and freezers

so I am taking inventory

and removing the things

I can no longer use.

The last couple of weeks

I have been working on clearing

and cleaning the pantries and freezers.

It's a big job:)

My home is very tiny.

I use cabinets for food storage.

The Hooiser below is filled with 

my spices and baking supplies..

Dear One made shelves from scrap wood

 to fit in small spaces and I bought a 

bolt of red gingham to cover

the food I store within...

Anything in the cottage that

is covered in red gingham 

contains food storage.

The beige cabinet in the living room

 to the right of the front door

is also food storage...

My deep freezer is shown in 

the photo below.

It is hidden as a 

tea center with a lamp and

flowers on top for decoration...

Living in a small space

requires creativity to hide

all the necessities and still

create a cozy look.

I am now preparing

a six month list to re-stock

my freezers and pantry shelves.

 

Doing a big shopping every few months,

dehydrating, canning and freezing

large quantities keeps me out of the stores

and greatly reduces food costs.

Dehydrated pumpkin from 

our Autumn pumpkin decorations..

Below is a picture of

one food storage space before the

red gingham goes up to hide it all...

As a homemaker,

my days are spent as 

homemakers of all generations,

preparing healthy meals

and keeping the home place

well cleaned and tidy

all while staying on 

a careful budget.

I am taking homemaking notes below

from one of Dear One's elderly aunts

named Aunt Etta who has passed on.

On this day she was teaching me 

about canning and food prep.

I am so glad I had the 

opportunity to learn from her

while she was still with us.

As one elderly lady once said,

"There are no telephones in

the grave yard."

We need to learn from our elders

before the Lord takes them home.

Keeping a home is

a full time job...

a job I cherish.

I actually enjoy 

creating beauty on 

a budget....

Our home is not a mansion

but it is where we live and enjoy

the life the Lord has given us.

Here is where I putter

and create cozy.

And to us this is

Home Sweet Home..

a bit of heaven on earth

Ask For The Old Paths 🏡

 

I have shared before about my 

vintage washer Mabel.

Dear One bought her for me

at a local yard sale.

I named her Mabel after

my beloved Grandma Mabel.

And, yes, I do have a modern

washer/dryer,

I just enjoy using 

vintage things occasionally:)

Grandma taught me to do 

laundry using her old wringer 

washer back in the 1950's.

You simply fill the machine

with a hose and add soap,

turn on the motor to churn 

the machine and let her go...

She makes a lovely 

sort of chug chug chug

as she cleans the clothes...

The soap water is then drained out

through a hose onto the ground.

After this you again add

fresh water and let it

chug chug chug to rinse...

The fun part comes next

as you turn on the wringer

and it pulls the clothes through.

Dear One likes to help.

He humored me by buying

the wringer washer,

but discovered he too

enjoys helping out...

Dear One has an elderly friend

who had an old hand wringer he didn't 

want anymore so he brought it 

home and built me a stand out of

scrap lumber where I can hand

wash without electricity 

and 

wring the clothes by hand.

He also hand carved a scrub board

as the picture below shows. 

A friend makes the cakes of laundry soap

 that I am using in the picture below...

Even without electricity

I can do my laundry...

"Why bother?"

you may ask.

Well, because I enjoy 

old fashioned ways of doing things.

I was raised on a 

farm/ranch as a girl

and everything was 

done the old ways.

Grandma taught me to 

cook on her wood kitchen stove.

My favorite meal was her 

homemade noodles and chicken.

The meal began out in 

her chicken yard where she 

caught an old hen, chopped its

head off, dunked it in

a bucket of boiling water

and let me help her pluck it

and gut it...

sounds like a big deal

to get a meal, 

but it was our life,

we lived off the land.

Grandma,

born in 1895

 as a young wife and mother...

Grandma in her garden

picking strawberries...

Grandma was simple.

She was never confused

or lacking direction in life.

She arose every morning

and knew what needed to be done

and she quietly went about doing that.

There were no options.

If you didn't work 

you didn't eat.

She gardened and canned.

The family grew meat

to fill our freezers.

We milked our cows daily 

for butter and milk.

We baked bread weekly.

We children worked also...

sun-up until sun-down,

just like the adults.

We attended a one room school,

the same one Grandma and Grandpa

attended. A simple school where

each row was a grade and one teacher 

led us in prayer, the pledge of allegiance,

and reading, writing and arithmetic...

We lived in peace and quiet back then.

We lived in the old paths

our grandparents and their parents

had walked in before us.

We didn't ask for or demand anything.

We knew our roles and took care 

of our responsibilities.

Each day ended rather peacefully.

My post today stems from 

a comment I received yesterday.

The heart cry of a young mama

who wonders how to cope with 

all of her responsibilities.

She knows I pray for her

and is asking for prayer once more.

Please know that I 

pray for my readers and I love you.

I write to share the hope

we have in Christ and it is a joy

to serve my readers this way.

I love your comments and I

keep them private so that you 

can share your heart without others

having to know what your thoughts may be.

She wrote yesterday that

finding the right balance in the

midst of her busy day was difficult.

She feels she is failing

and at times even simple things

like making supper is overwhelming.

My heart goes out to her.

Most of us understand this struggle.

Whether a woman works outside

the home or in the home,

she often runs out of energy 

and fresh ideas to meet her tasks.

This is not uncommon.

The world we live in today

suggests we must 

do more and be more

than we felt we had to do

back in the day.

Our roles were simpler then.

Plus we had no one to 

compare ourselves to.

Social media today can destroy 

a woman's peace and create

a heart of unhappiness.

The quickest and surest way 

to create extra time and get things 

done is to turn off the TV/phone/computer.

There is a season for everything

and young motherhood is not the 

season for giving our time or attention

to outside voices or needs.

I was blessed to live in 

an era where my influence 

was someone like Grandma.

As much work as we had to do

we did it without hurry or influence

to please others who were watching.

I believe that if we have been

given a job to do 

we must focus on that one thing.

Adding voices from outside

sources adds confusion to our minds.

The world is unsettled.

If we focus on things of the

world we cannot give 

our whole heart and mind

 to the tasks at hand.

We were never meant to know

as much information as 

is available today online.

Our minds were created by God

to be at peace so we can 

accomplish His will.

His yoke is easy.

His burden is light.

If we add the troubles of 

the whole world around us into

our minds we will not function well.

Another important path to peace

is to limit who comes into your daily life.

A homemaker can be easily 

overwhelmed with outsiders seeking

her time and attention.

Family first.

If there is any extra time after

all family needs are met,

and

 after your dear husband has

all of his needs met,

perhaps you might like to share

some of your time with others.

As a wise woman told me

when I was a younger mom....

"An occasional visit 

with a like minded friend

can be a blessing,

but 

it is not a necessity."

Those words were very 

comforting and taught me 

to think about how I wanted 

to share any extra time I might have.

It is difficult enough to

meet all of the needs of a home,

children and especially your Dear One

each and every day without

opening the doors to others who

want to take precious family time.

Close your doors to 

more than you can actually do

each and every day.

Close your mind to the 

endless problems of the 

world around you.

Do the next thing.

The next thing that

is YOUR responsibility.

Choose prayerfully 

and wisely what is truly 

deserving of your attention.

The Lord first

husband next

then children and home.

It's a plan that

will create peace in home and heart.

It is God's plan.

Keeping the home fires burning

is a full time job for husband and wife...

You will never regret

following the old paths...

You will never regret

creating a quiet and lovely home..

You will never regret 

spending time with the Lord...

You will never regret 

being the wife to a husband

you have loved well...

I love the little quote below

by Laura Ingalls concerning the 

happiness of a well cared for home...