The Journey Continues...

 

It is the 2nd anniversary of the

American Homestead blog!

 

Two years ago on a "milestone" birthday I

began to write a blog about things I do.

My daughter scribbled some notes about how

 to blog on an index card and sent me off to

Eastern Europe to begin my journey.

 

 

This year has taken me to visit places

of my dreams, we have met great people,

seen magnificent sights and eaten delicious,

exotic food.  Personally, this year has been

very exciting to see both my children off to

university and to see them realize their hopes

and dreams.  For my business, there are many

new paths and ventures on the horizon ~ stay tuned!

 

And the journey continues...

 

So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the tradewinds in your sails.
Explore, Dream, Discover.
~ Mark Twain

 

Full Circle

 

A package arrived yesterday from out West.

Included in the package was this quilt I

designed and made for my Mother-In-Law's

80th birthday.

 

 

It was Mary Ellen's wish that after her

passing, anything someone made for her

should go back to the maker.

Nice to see it again, but bittersweet...

 

 

This quilt was designed especially for

Mary Ellen's 80th birthday so each block

contained 8 T's (80).  Can you find them?

 

The beautiful quilting is by Elaine Reed.

 

 

The borders have units that could look

like M's for Mary...

 

 

...but if you look at it this way they

could also be E's for Ellen.

 

 

Also included in the package was this

Irish Santa cross stitch I made for my

future in-laws before Mr. Wonderful

& I were married.  So long ago.

 

 

The Taste Test

US Coca-Cola Vs. Mexican Coca-Cola

 

 

In our local Mexican mercado this week,

one of our houseguests found Coke imported

from Mexico.  He asked why would they import

Coke when there is a Coca-Cola bottling plant

just down the street.  Another one of our guests

remarked because the formulation is different, in

Mexico they make it with cane sugar.

 

 

So, of course we had to have a blind

taste test.  The results were 6 out of 7

people preferred and/or could identify

the Mexican Coke.  One person preferred

the American Coke. 

 

I thought the taste was deeper and richer.

I have probably only had less than a cup of

Coke in the past decade, just one of those

things I gave up along the path of life, so I'm

no expert.  The creamier richness reminded

me of the fabulous rootbeer of my youth.

 

Years ago my friend Susan told me I should

only buy Domino sugar because it is one of

the few sugars that still use cane sugar.

Since I only use sugar for baking, this is

important.  Using a beet sugar in your baking

will change the results of your recipe.

 

 

 

 

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 13

Everybody's Favorite

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A:

8 - red 2" squares

4 - fussy cut blue 2" squares

 

Fabric B:

4- red & white 2" x 2 1/2" rectangles

 

Fabric C:

4 - blue 2 5/8" x 3 1/8" rectangles

 

Fabric D:

1 - red & white 3 1/4" square,

cut twice on the diagonal

 

Fabric E:

1 - red fussy cut 2 5/8" square

 

 

Make Center:

Layout units as shown and sew

together in 3 strips.  Press seams

to the red fabrics.

 

 

Sew 3 strips together as shown.

 

 

Trim block to 5 1/2".

 

 

Layout remaining pieces as shown

and sew together to make top & bottom

and side units.  Press seams to the dark

red fabric.

 

 

Finish block by sewing on the side pieces,

press seams to the outside.  Then sew on

the top and bottom units and press seams

to the outside.  Square to 8 1/2".

Check out the Flickr site where everyone can

post their work:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead can now be found on Facebook,

please "like" my page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Photo

 

Recently my photo of Christmas Ornaments

at the Salzburg, Austria Christmas Market

won the Viking River Cruises Holiday Card

Photo Contest.

 

Yesterday Viking sent me some of the cards.

What fun!

Thanksgiving Tradition

 

Here at the American Homestead we

have a very traditional Thanksgiving

dinner.  And a tradition at our table

is for each person to tell a story of a

memorable meal in the past year.

 

 

The Turkey

 

 

Creamed Onions ~ on our table

since we were kids.

 

Mick told a story of a meal he recently

had in Cappadocia.  His guide took him

to a restaurant run by a family he knew.

The family filled the table with mezza

dishes and everyone feasted... then they

brought the lunch.  Everyone had to stuff

themselves a bit more.

 

 

Cornbread Stuffing

 

 

Corn Pudding

 

Brennan told a story of a dinner in

Copenhagen where there was no menu,

the chef decided what everyone would eat.

Included in the group was a Danish family

with their children and grandparents. 

Brennan especially liked walking the Mom

home with the kids so the kids could be put

to bed, he said walking through the quiet

old streets was wonderful.

 

 

Butternut Squash

 

 

Mashed Potatoes

 

Kasey told us all about a Hawaian

Luau and all the foods and preparation

involved.  Kasey lives on the beach in

Hawaii and I'm sure she is counting down

the days until she can fly away from the

grey skies of Indiana and spend her Christmas

break with her family on the beach ~ maybe

they'll have a luau!

 

 

Haricot Verts with Lemon Zest and Pine Nuts

 

Uncle Jamie told us about a dinner

he had in Turkey where the entire

meal was cooked in a sealed clay pot,

you then hit the pot and cracked the top

off so you could eat the meal.

 

 

Cranberry Apple Relish

 

Mr. Wonderful told a story of a

delicious breakfast buffet in Istanbul.

There were so many selections he had

to make 2 trips just so he could taste

everything. 

 

 

Pickled Beets

 

Hard working Katie Rose is a

student at Purdue and when she

has breaks from school she is always

working.  Sadly, she only got to spend

one night out of state last year so she

told us about her tomato and mozzarella

salad on a trip to Michigan last summer.

 

 

Pecan and Pumpkin Pie

 

My favorite meal of the year was my first

night in Athens.  We arrived late in the day

and checked into our hotel and headed to

Plaka to find a restaurant.  As we were looking

down the side streets we saw the Acropolis lit

up at night.  That's the street we went down.

We ate in an outdoor cafe, I had moussaka

and Wonderful had stuffed tomato and pepper.

And we enjoyed the beautiful view of the Acropolis.

 

I hope everyone is thankful for every meal we

get to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Thanksgiving Week

 

Thanksgiving at our American Homestead,

Avalon, is quite traditional.

But with the house filled with people for

the week we have been having an

International Festival in our dining room.

 

At this meal all four of us had been to

Istanbul and/or Greece within the past

6 months.  When traveling we always

collect dishware and small items to use

in our homes.  I bought these candles

from a guy on Divan Yolu, just across

from the Blue Mosque.  This dinner is

moussaka and a Greek salad like the

one I had for lunch after exploring the

Acropolis in Athens.

 

 

When traveling or when we have a

crowd at home we always have a

Dutch Breakfast.  Cheese and meat,

hard-boiled eggs, yogurt and breads.

 

 

This was a rather typical American

Sunday dinner of Brown Sugar/ Balsamic

Pork Loin and Carrots but it did have a

Hot German Potato Salad to give it and

international flavor.

 

 

A delicious Japanese Curry.

 

 

Holy Guacamole!  There was enough

to feed an army!  We put quite a dent

in this and then...

 

 

... followed by a build your own tostada feast.

 

 

Last night we celebrated India with

the street foods of Mumbai.

 

 

Ragda Patties

 

 

Pani-puri and Papadum

 

 

Diwali Sweets.

 

Someone said last night that life at our

house is all about eating and talking,

hmmm ~ not a bad thing.

And I'm thankful for that...

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 12

Little Boy's Breeches

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/

 

I planned to show how I made my block

but quickly realized my units were coming

out so lumpy and bumpy that I had no right

to show anyone how to travel down that bumpy

road.  So I finished the block and did what I  do

whenever a block is not behaving ~ I pressed it

to within an inch of it's life... with starch.

 

Check out the Flickr site where everyone can

post their work:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/



In High Cotton

 

I took a road trip recently through

the southern US.  Somewhere in Missouri

I looked up and the fields seemed to have

a haze or mist over them, I realized it was

a field of cotton.  The first I have ever seen!

 

 

In the South, you will often hear

that one is "in high cotton".  This

means they have good luck, good

fortune or prosperity.  Some say

this goes back to the days when

cotton was picked by hand and if

the cotton was high, the pickers

did not have to stoop as much and

it was much easier to pick.

 

Isn't that cotton flower just beautiful?

 

 

This is what the cotton boll looks

like while still on the plant.

 

 

These are some bolls we found on the

ground showing the boll closed, slightly

open and just about to burst.

 

 

Then the cotton bursts from the boll.

It reminded us of "cotton" candy.

 

 

This shows one of the seeds in the cotton.

Prior to the cotton gin, all the seeds needed

to be removed by hand.  It is very hard to

get the seeds out of that fiber.  It would

have been a very time consuming process.

 

 

There are still over 18,000 cotton farmers

in the USA.  But we are not the biggest

producers.  China and India are ahead of us.

 

 

This is a cotton picker in the field. 

 

I wonder how the meaning of the phrase

"cotton picking minute" changed, once the

chore was done by machine?

 

 

We saw these huge bales of cotton

lined up in fields through state after state.

 

As a quilter I work with cotton everyday, I

suppose you could say I've taken a cotton

to it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me Time ~ November 13, 2012

 

It has been a busy day today!

 

But I got to spend some time with

my friends at Me Time.

 

 

The post says Me Time but I guess

it is really about ME!

 

My birthday is later in the month but

we started off the celebrations early

since I won't see Susan again before

my birthday.

 

I got this beautiful candle holder from

Nepal that is sooo Me!  The reasons are:

 

1.  It is blue ~ which I love.

 

2. It is ceramic and glazed in the same

glaze as many of my blue ceramic pieces.

 

3. It is from a fair trade shop that I love.

 

4.  It is a candle ~ which I love.

 

5. It is a lotus flower that holds a special

significance for me.

 

 

And there were cupcakes ~ num-num.

 

There was laughter and chatting and

creating going on too.

 

 

Susan ~ I must ask:  Are we getting old when

we meet up in the same hospital in the same

lab for different tests?  If so,  I'm sure we'll

go into this phase of our lives with enjoyment...