Overheard at the Thrift Store…

May 21, 2010

It’s been a busy week – but my to-do list is getting shorter!

One of the things on that list was to hit a few thrift stores for those last minute additions to the kid’s suitcases for their week away – a couple of t-shirts, some shorts, and a couple pair of capris.

Dagmar and I headed to Grant City to check out our favorite one there, arriving soon after they opened the doors for the day.

We had just started our search through the racks when an older lady came in carrying a sack and looking a bit frantic.

“Dorothy!” she said, “Have you sold that bag of clothes I brought in before?”

Dorothy (the lady working that afternoon) replied, “No, I don’t think so – I think they’re still sorting it out in the back – why?”

“Wilbur put the wrong bag in the car!” (She held out the bag she was carrying) “We brought home all the clothes that didn’t fit and donated  the bag with his best clothes in it! He tried to put his pants on this morning and he could barely close them!” our frantic woman said as she moved quickly through the store to the back room.

I was still speechless with surprise over this outburst, when, just a few minutes later an older gentleman came in slowly wearing some very tight pants, his rather large tummy hanging over the waistband.

Poor guy could hardly breath – it had to be Wilbur.

Dorothy just pointed to the back room, smiling.

We could all hear the excited voices of his wife – the frantic woman – as she feverishly pawed through the donated bags in the back room.

We all heard her shouts of joy when the lost bag was recovered.

We all watched her triumphant exit from the thrift store with the correct bag in hand – followed rather slowly by her husband Wilbur who still looked as though a deep breath would burst a seam.

Then and only then did I laugh.

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged | Comments (6)

Welcome to the Country!

April 9, 2010

Ultimate Blog Party 2010(For my regular readers -I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Party this week – which is kind of like a huge Open House for other bloggers to come and look around. Sure wish I had more time to spiff the place up a bit – but you know the wild few weeks we’ve had around here! So – I’ll guess they’ll have to take me the way I am – but don’t worry Mom – I did get a towel thrown over the unmentionables drying in the bathroom!)

Hey thanks for stopping by!

We’re pretty informal around here – so slip your shoes off and come on in.

You might notice our turn of the century farmhouse – we moved in it ten years ago, gutted it and put it back together. We’ve only been moved in a year and half – so we’re still settling in. (Yes -  none of the trim is up yet – and there’s still no pictures on the wall – oh well!!)

You may also notice a lot of books sitting  around – both my hubby and I are official bibliophiles – Half-Price Books is a dangerous place for us!

TheKingsHere 091Speaking of my husband – let me introduce you to my sweetheart – Jan.

We met and started dating when I had just finished college.

A funny story – when we started dating, I would be talking to my mom on the phone telling her all about the things I was doing with Jan – and she just assumed it was a girl.

When one of my sisters told her the truth – that he was a very eligible good-looking single guy at church – my folks dropped everything and came down the next weekend to meet him! He passed inspection – still does! :)

We will celebrate 20 years of marriage in August. I am one blessed woman.

We have five kids – three are teenagers – two are almost teens. Yeah – life is crazy around here at times – and the food we go through!! Wow!

I do like to share recipes  – but they’re nothing fancy – just good home-cooking that is tried and true. We have lots of company – so I’m often “feeding the multitudes”. (Last week we hosted nine extra cousins, an aunt and a grandpa and grandma for seven days – next week my entire family will be here for a long weekend to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.)

I use very large pots, have a well-stocked pantry and three freezers. Food is big here.

You might have noticed the view by now – we live in the beautiful rolling hills of southern Iowa. Our nearest neighbors are Amish – so a buggy going by on the gravel road or even pulling into the driveway is pretty common.

We like to sit in the sun room and do our home schooling every day – with windows on three sides we can watch our world while doing Chemistry and diagramming sentences.

If you hang around long enough I hope you will notice that my faith is very important to me. My relationship with Jesus is the center of my life and I sometimes share what He’s taught me.

I love thrift stores, reading fiction, and old quilts.

I love chocolate so much that I started a separate chocolate blog.

I don’t like broken appliances, being sick and cooked spinach.

Besides my kids, my faith, and what I’m cooking, I also write about our adventures, funny happenings, and our life in rural America – “where we live in the comfort of our blue jeans and cotton tees”.

Thanks for stopping by – stay as long as you wish! The water is warm in the tea kettle and my daughter’s keep the cookie jar full.

If you’ve got time – hike the back trails we have on the property, do a little fishing, or just sit and enjoy the quiet.

Before you go – don’t forget to grab a dozen eggs from the fridge to take home with you – those chickens are really laying right now!

Come back soon!

Melinda

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Friends | Tagged | Comments (45)

The Great Cook-a-Thon

March 18, 2010

We have some exciting family events coming up in the next few weeks – including a very special 50th Anniversary Celebration for my parents in which my entire family will gather here at our home for a weekend full of surprises and fun.

To make the “Golden Weekend” go more smoothly, we decided to make as much of the food ahead as we could.

So two of my sisters and a couple of nieces came down for a few days this week and we had our very own “Cook-a-thon” (complete with lots of chocolate and laughter and even some vintage music!)

My kitchen was hopping as we had every available surface covered and in use.

We made 4 cavatini’s that were put in aluminum foil pans and frozen.

We peeled over 70 potatoes and made 3 large pans of make-ahead mashed potatoes. These were also put in aluminum foil pans and frozen.

We baked a large batch of crescent rolls…

…a very large batch of crescent rolls (because you can never have too many hot buttered rolls!) :)

We also brined, roasted and pulled apart a large turkey, made a batch of hamburger buns, made 8 pounds of taco meat, prepped 4 egg casseroles, made 4 pans of cinnamon rolls that we froze before baking, and covered 40 pieces of chicken in Mom’s original marinade before freezing them in plastic bags.

Whew!

Not only did we make a freezer full of food, we also made some great plans and fun memories.

We discovered once again the truth in the old saying “Helping hands will get things done, half the effort, twice the fun”!

This post is linked up at Design’s by Gollum.

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Cooking and Food, Family Traditions | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (13)

Hey Ya’ll! It’s a Blizzard Blog Hop

February 4, 2010

Blizzard Bloghop 2010 hosted by Household 6 DivaOkay – what in the world is a Blizzard Blog Hop?

Basically it’s a way for other bloggers to get to know each other – like a meet and greet.

We all write a post introducing ourselves and link them altogether – so we can make new friends virtually.

So…from my little corner of the world…welcome!

I’m Melinda.

I’ve been married for almost 20 years to an amazing man and we have 5 great kids.

I adore chocolate – so much so that I started a separate Chocolate Blog.

I despise the taste of coffee – but could smell it all day!

I used to be a classroom teacher – but now my classroom is at home and filled with my own five kids (ages 17 down to 9).

We live in the middle of the nowhere among the hills in southern Iowa. Our nearest neighbors are Amish.

This is the view from my window – but not today. Today it is an ugly brown with patches of dirty snow with frozen mud and dreary dark skies.

You don’t want to see it – trust me – enjoy this view from June when everything is green and lush and beautiful.

Hay Bales

My husband and I moved from the  city to our homestead 11 years ago. We lived in a dreary old farmhouse (the hovel) that was already here while we worked to renovate a big beautiful farmhouse (the mansion) that we moved on to the property. It took us 9 years.

We moved in a year ago. :)

In my spare time I want to learn how to restore the patches of native prairie we have on the property.

Oh – and I want to learn how to take great pictures – well, at least better pictures.

I love fiction books, old quilts, and Hallmark movies.

I don’t like rye bread, politics, and science fiction.

I’m a big gardener – which means I have a big garden and grow really big weeds! :)

I love cooking and baking.

I shop thrift stores.

I lost almost 40 pounds in the last year.

I’ve been blogging now for almost 3 years.

I blog because I love words. I love to play with words and move them around.  But mostly I blog because I feel a need to create something that doesn’t immediate get eaten! :)

I blog about my life, my faith, and my family. Sometimes I have deep thoughts. Sometimes I’m just silly.

Thanks for stopping by!

By Country Gal | Posted in Blog Parties, Community | Tagged | Comments (27)

The Tale of the Left-Over Cranberry Sauce

December 5, 2009

left-over cranberry sauce

Our Thanksgiving was a little different this year – instead of a quiet meal at home, we volunteered to help serve a community meal at our church for anyone who – like us – didn’t have family close by.

We had never done anything like this before – and no one had any idea how many people would show up and how much food to make.

So we guessed.

Somethings we were right on – like the dressing and the sweet potatoes.

Somethings we weren’t even close.

But all of the left-overs found good homes, many of them ending up here.

The turkey and ham turned into casseroles that now live in my freezer. The mashed potatoes became the most amazingly delicious lefse ever made! The relishes have been eaten on all week.

The only thing that truly stumped me was the left-over cranberry sauce.  It wasn’t the yummy homemade stuff or even the stuff with the real cranberries in it. It was the stuff from the can – the jellied stuff. You know the kind – with the ridges from the can on the outside.

I like it, but not 4 cans worth, cut and partially melted in a ziplock bag. I will admit that this frugal momma almost tossed it to the chickens.

But I didn’t.

I had an inspiration – an “aha” moment.

I decided to turn it into salad.  I would replace the pears in our classic blender jello recipe with the cranberries.  Brilliant!

Cranberry Blender Jello

2 (3-ounce)  packages of Jello (I used strawberry but orange would be yummy as well!)
4 ounces cream cheese
1 can jellied cranberry sauce (or whatever is left-over in the zip-lock bag after the holidays!)
1 1/2 cup boiling water

Mix all ingredients together in blender on high. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate until set.

I frosted ours with Cool Whip since we had some of that left-over as well.

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Cooking and Food, Salads | Tagged , , | Comments (0)