VISITORS & RECIPES

There is a doe who lives in the woods near my house. She always has twins. Here they are feasting on my once beautiful lavender Phlox as mother watches for intruders.

Having their fill of Phlox, they exit my yard in search of more delicacies elsewhere. Notice the little Laburnum trees I planted a few weeks ago. I had to stake them up because it had been so wet they kept falling over. A site on the internet said these trees love a wet soil and it also said that deer won't bother them as every part of this tree is deadly poison. Well as you can see, someone didn't tell the deer about that because they have eaten nearly all the leaves.

Fare thee well till next time, you greedy critters. Now that you have eaten many of my lovely flowers and shrubs. And your Bucks have used my Rhododenderon's, Lilac's and other lovely plants to remove the velvet from their antlers, leaving my yard looking like a war zone!

I will be buying another ten pound bag of blood meal soon. This is the only thing I have ever found to discourage the deer from eating everything in sight. Please don't think they are starving. There are hundreds of acres of food for them as we live at the foot of Chuckanut Mountain. they have just learned that it's easy picking in our yards.

We also have a serious problem with over population of the deer. I've lived in the same area most of my life and we never used to see this many.

In years gone by when they were in the gardens, dad used to shoot them and he and mom would butcher them. Mom canned a lot of the meat and some was frozen. We aren't supposed to do that now. Why even the lovely Rose Gardens at the park near my home were dug up and turned into lawn because the deer wouldn't leave them alone. They absolutely love roses. That Rose Garden had been there before I was born. What a pity!

Ok, so now that that is said, here's a few recipes for you.

VENISON POT ROAST

Coat a nice sized venison roast with about half cup flour which has been salted and peppered. Brown on all sides in hot bacon fat or what have you. Then make three slits in the meat with a sharp knife and poke garlic cloves down in. Quarter the onion and lay on top of roast. Cover and put in the oven at about 350 degrees or so, and cook for about an hour. Then add some potatoes and carrots and what ever else you might like. Cover and cook till your belly is growling so loud you can't hear the roast sizzling anymore. Or until it's done. I suppose you could use a meat thermometer and cook according to the directions for beef. My mom taught me how to cook wild meat.

Venison chops are good too. Just coat with flour like the roast and brown both sides. Mom made gravy with the pan drippings to put on the potatoes. She always had a huge garden and canned everything in sight so we had a good variety of vegetables with our meals.

With the canned venison she put it into a pan and added a little water, got it hot and made a gravy. It had these big chunks of meat and was delicious over mashed potatoes.

Whern my husband hunted he used to have sausage made from the venison, elk or moose meat. It was like summer sausage.

Well now that I have taken care of the deer situation, I will bid you all a lovely Tuesday.

Please pray for our country and our country's leaders and as always, hold up our troops.

Blessings

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FROST COVERED YARD AND RECIPES

This morning I awoke to sunshine and a thick frost covering my yard. It was cold. REALLY COLD! and just the thought of taking my trash to the curb made me shiver!

It never fails, that when winter actually appears, my thoughts turn to the hollidays and the recipes I have made over the years.

I usually don't post recipes but decided they might be fun to share a few and who knows, maybe you can even use one or two. So here goes!

By the way the photos I am using were borrowed.

The first recipe is for Condensed Sweetened Milk. This is pretty expensive to buy in the can, but I found this recipe to be every bit as good at a fraction of the cost, and it is soooo easy!

SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

Put ½ cup of warm water in a bowl, and add 1 cup and 2 tablesoppns of instant nonfat powdered milk. Mix and add ¾ cup of granulated sugar. Mix well.

To help disolve the sugar, set bowl in a pan of hot water.

Stir mixture occassionally until disolved then cool and it's ready to use.

Here's a recipe for you to try, using the sweetened condensed milk you just made.

EASY LEMONADE PIE

13 ounces sweetened condensed milk

6 ounces lemonade concentrate

12 ounces Coolwhip

Stir it all together and pour into a graham cracker crust and Chill.

(Is that easy enough?)

Next is a recipe for sugar free jam (more like jelly)

One can (12 ounces) frozen unsweetened grape juice concentrate

One envelope unflavored gelatin.

Disolve gelatin in the defrosted juice concentrate. Pour mixture into a saucepan. Heat to boiling or until gelatin is disolved. Remove from heat, cool slightly and pour into jars.

This must be kept in the refrigerator.

Here is a recipe my youngest son brought home from his cooking class when he was in seventh grade. He is 38 now.

CRATERS OF THE MOON

¼ cup flour

¼ cup milk

1 egg

2 Tablespoons butter

Turn oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour, milk and egg together. Batter should be lumpy so don't overmix.

Melt butter in a round cake pan while oven is heating.

Pour batter on top of melted butter. DO NOT MIX

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until puffed around edges and golden brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar or sugar and cinnamon.

Did you ever run out of catsup? Here's a substitute.

One 8 ounce can tomato sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

A third teaspoon of cinnamon

an eighth teaspoon each of ground cloves and allspice.

Heat and stir until bubbly and sugar is disolved.

Hey, does anyone know how to make the numbers one third and one eighth?

I have a few more recipes I will share another time. Things like SODA CRACKERS, LYESOAP, BUBBLE JUICE and even some old timey cures I got from my mother.

For now dear friends, take care and praise our Jehovah God who has given us life and life more abundantly and best of all, everlasting life.

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Hi everyone. I was just over at my friend Ken's blog and want to let you know that he has a very interesting post up about the Creation Museum. Go over and check it out.
Ken is a very intelligent young man who keeps up to date with political happenings. We can all learn a great deal from him.

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STEPPING STONES AND FAMILY TIME

Dear little hands choose stones found and polished by their Great-Great Grandparents, Ken and Irene. Oh so careful in the choosing. This is the day to make stepping stones.

Auntie Patty leads them in many new adventures.

The men mix and pour the cement into the molds while fascinated little ones watch. No Kenny, you cannot make mud-pies.

The wait seemed long before the cement was set up enough to decorate, and oh boy did they have fun. Off came the shoes and socks, and in goes the foot into the cold squishy cement to make a footprint. Cyndi was close by with the hose to wash off the feet quickly and dry them with a big fluffy towel.

Hailee presses a fallen leaf into the cement to make a design. Ever so carefully her finger as light as a feather. Beautiful job Hailee!

Tyson presses a treasured stone carefully into the cement. Did you ever see a little boy so gentle with his hands? Good job Tyson!

David helps Dylan make a footprint in his stepping stone. He cooperated so well and then got that icky stuff off his foot. His brother Tyson watches.

Auntie Patty helps get Johny started with the decorating, and he has lots of lovely stones and leaves to press in. I think he did one of the clearest footprints.

Oh yes, little Victoria had her turn too. She didn't seem to mind the cold cement between her little pink toes. Uncle David hands her back to mommy.

Finally they are all decorated. All eight of them. With pretty stones, leaves and ferns, Now the much longer wait for them to set up. It will take about two days, so lets have some fun now after all that hard work!

Tyson and Dylan have a forest adventure. Watch out for the bears and cougars, boys, and the lions and tigers too. Actually there are bears and cougars in this forest.

This is a nice picture. click on it to see it better.

This little road is not traveled much and is grown over with grass and other interesting things to see. Aunt Patty spotted a spider making a web from one tall grass stem to another. When she asked the little ones if they knew what it was, Kenny said, "It's Charlotte." Kenny is a sweetheart!

This interesting little flower was growing on the weed covered road. The blossom resembles an aster or some sort of daisy. I couldn't bend over far enough to smell it and didn't want to disturb someting so pretty.

This colorful leaf landed on what looks like a Colorado Blue Spruce. The fall leaves were all around us, a reminder that the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are over and old man winter will soon be coming for a visit.

Kenny and Maddie doing what four year olds do best. Just being kids. Or maybe this is their welcome to old man winter.....I'm with you kids!

After a long and hard day working with the little ones and making a delicious dinner for everyone, my Cyndi made a double batch of candy cookies, Chocolate peanut butter flavor. A perfect end to a perfect day.

And God bless you everyone.

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MADDIE'S 4TH

Some of the little girl's in our family get a train cake on their 4th birthday just like the boy's do. They are just decorated a bit differently.

The family planned a trip to Disneyland for next spring, but the little ones don't know they are actually going in two weeks. What a fun surprise! The carousel is a little hint.

Maddie's Nana (Grandma) decorated her cake and her daddy made the frosting. Her daddy and her auntie Miranda make beautiful cakes too. Isn't the color pretty? See Maddy in the train engine window?

Here's our Birthday Girl. She cries or holds her hands over her ears when the Happy Birthday song is sung at anyone's birthday, so her Nana counted to three and we all just said "Happy Birthday Maddie." As you can see she handled that just fine.

Oh boy, rip that package open! Maddie's cousin Kenny looks just as excited as Maddie. Big sister Julia is helping.

Another package, What can it be? Birthday presents are so much fun!

Her very own Bible. A children's version. She will love the stories and pictures, and she will learn important lessons that become a big part of her life.

In her new Angel costume holding her new baby doll. She is pleased. I'm not too sure about that look in her eyes. I hope she remembers that she's an angel!

All that excitement can tire out even the cutest little birthday girl angel.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!

Great Grandma "mimi' Loves you.

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COLUMBUS DAY

Above are four of my children. I was babysitting the boy in black slacks. This photo was taken in December just before their Sunday School program.

A few months before this photo was taken, we had experienced the Columbus Day Storm of 1962, otherwise known as the Big Blow. It was an extratropical wave cyclone that ranked among the most intense to strike the United States Pacific Northwest since at least 1948, and likely since January 9, 1880.

In Bellingham, winds reached 98 MPH (158 km/h.

On this particular day, my oldest daughter was in school and the four younger children were running to the couch under the large plate glass window in front of the house to the side window to watch the road grader at work as he went up and down the road. Children used to be so easily entertained.

As I worked in the kitchen I heard the wind howl and saw the trees bend in submission. The rose bush slapped against the window, thorns scratching relentlesly. I heard the children's little shoes tappety-tapping as they ran from window to window. Their squeals of delight made me smile as I took a pan of oatmeal cookies from the oven.

Suddenly there was a loud 'bang' like an explosion. I thought the grader had thrown a rock at the house and ran to the livingroom to check on the children.

They were standing between the side window and the couch under the large plate glass window with astonished expresions on their sweet little faces.

A gust of wind had broken the large window and blown it onto the couch where the children would have been in just one more second. Huge shards of glass, some measuring 3 to 4 feet were standing erect on the couch. The window must have been at least 5X8 and about a quarter of an inch thick. It was very heavy. You can imagine what may have happened if the children had been on the couch when the glass fell.

Was it a coincidence that they were just a second away from the couch when the glass fell? NO it was the mighty hand of Almighty God protecting my little ones from disaster.

A new window was installed but I never put the couch under it again and the following spring we moved to a mini farm in the country, to a little house with small windows.

On Columbus Day I celebrate Heavenly Father's love and mercy and the scriptural fact that He commands His angels concerning us.

As for Columbus, I guess all he ever discovered was his belly button. My Native American ancestors got here before him.

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SPIDER COURTSHIP

Gotta' meet this chic!

A romantic Spider moment.

Back for seconds. Not a good idea!

Her beak opens

Too late, he backs away

Paralyzed from his mate's venom he is helpless.

She wraps him and into the pantry he goes!

And she wears a cross!

Click to enlarge photos.

I took these a few years ago behind my house. I had never seen spiders courting before. It was fascinating. I had heard that the female would kill and wrap the male for her babies to later eat, or maybe for her snack. Apparently it's true.

They are interesting to watch but a few weeks ago I grabbed a handful of seed pods from a Musk-Mallow plant and accidentally got a BIG spider. When I saw it in the bag with the seed pods and realized It had been in my hand, it gave me the heebie-jeebie's!

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ANOTHER DEAR OLD COOKBOOK

Among mother's cookbooks, I found this colorful little 1924 booklet about JELL-O.

I think the pictures are cute. Here a gentleman runs to save a carton of the jiggly stuff that fell from his wagon, from an oncoming train. He will be every child's hero! Or who knows, maybe he loves the stuff himself!

A special wedding gift. I'm sure he plans to be a frequent visitor. The artist captured the feel of the oldtime parlor. See the wonderfully carved table, the clock and all the interesting do-dad's?

Making sure Daddy has enough Jell-o for his trip. Don't you love how the little girl has her arms full? And how do you like the colorful floor?

This picture made me smile. It is so realistic. See the little boy with his knee in Grandpa's chin and dear old grandpa, getting his hair yanked out but still smiling in delight. And here's grandma, bringing on the Jell-O!

I guess this post wouldn't be complete without some instructions and a few of the recipes from this relic.

Whipped Jello

With a Dover or Ladd egg beater Jell-O can be whipped easily as heavy cream is whipped. And whipping Jell-O opens the way to a great many desserts altogether different in appearance and even in flavor from the un-whipped variety.

Bavarian creams and "snows" and "whips" of many kinds are made easily and economically of whipped Jell-O.

How to whip Jell-O

Begin to whip the jelly when it is cool and still liquid-just as it begins to thicken, and whip until it is the consistency of whipped cream. Keep the Jell-O cold while whipping by setting in a bowl of cracked ice, ice water or very cold water.

PINEAPPLE BAVARIAN CREAM

Dissolve a package of lemon Jell-O in one-half pint boiling water. Cool slightly, then add one-half pint juice from canned pineapple. When cold and beginning to thicken, whip until it will drop from a spoon in a lump like mass, and quickly fold in one cup grated pineapple. Add two cups sweetened, whipped cream. Pile lightly in stem glasses and garnish with cherry or pineapple.

ASPARAGUS SALAD

Drain liquid from one can asparagus tips. Add one tablespoon vinegar and enough water to make a pint. Add to this one-half cup chopped celery, one-fourth teaspoon salt, one small onion. Simmer a few minutes. Strain and add package of lemon Jell-O. Line the bottom of mold with Jell-O and let harden. Then place the asparagus tips with strips of green pepper and pimento, and turn the remaining Jell-O over it. Set away to harden. Turn out on lettuce leaves and serve with mayonnaise dressing.

A LITTLE JELL-O TRIVIA

Did you know that they used to make Chocolate Jell-O? Not pudding, Jell-O.

For special parties my mom used to make Rainbow Jell-O. She had to let each layer set up before adding the new color. It was beautiful when she sliced it and we could see all the colorful layers.

Another rainy day here.

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