The Old Homeplace

Frugal Lamps-Yeah Right!

My new to me car!!!

We got a car last week. I got to try it out a little yesterday. We had quite the storm here and a part of rotten pine tree fell on our driveway. I drove over the end of the tree on my way up (during the storm!) and was able to stop the car on the steepest part of the driveway and back it up without moving a gravel on my way down!!!

Here's the car, a 2004 Subaru Outback with ALLWHEEL DRIVE:

At first I did not want to get a vehicle at all but since our kids live out of town and we really like to see them occasionally we decided it would be best to purchase one. My goal is to keep this vehicle as long as possible! I would like to get 200,000 miles on it. Dh can do routine maintenance and I will do the washing and cleaning! Keeping it clean will be somewhat of a challenge. As you can see we have a gravel driveway and there is plenty of yellow clay mud when it rains. I have been researching car care products and haven't decided exactly what to use yet. I know I need to wash it, use a wax or polish and a tire polish on the outside. I need to keep it vacuumed, dusted and the vinyl protected on the inside. I may look at purchasing a shop vac so I can do it all at home.

Wild Blackberries!!!

Dh picked some wild blackberries yesterday! He says there are plenty more but they are in a thicket of briers that were over his head and he could not really tell where he was stepping. He also saw a hollowed out place where a large animal had been resting. Since I don't like briers, snakes, chiggers, or large animals (bears have been spotted around here!) I will wait for him to pick them!!!

So far I have made:

Freezer Jam

Pie

I also froze a pint of plain berries. I hope dh braves the wild to pick more!!!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

I have recently discoverd parchment paper and I love it! I like to use it to line cookie sheets for baking cookies and bread.

The only problem is that it is a little expensive. So I reuse it! That's right, after the bread or cookies are finished I dust off the crumbs and let the parchment paper cool. Then I fold it up and stick it in the cupboard for next time.

Of course, I toss it if it looks grungy or after I have used it a few times. It is paper and I would not want to re-use it too much, it might become a fire hazard!

Using Cast Iron Cookware

My best tip for using your cast iron cookware:

Make sure you match the size of the pan to the size of the burner you are going to use it on. Trust me, if you put your really old, favorite, large cast iron skillet on too small of a burner it just might crack in half.

Right now I am using a 10.5 inch skillet and a 6.5 (across the bottom) skillet that makes the perfect amount of cornbread for my husband and me. I also have a grill pan and a cornbread pan shaped like ears of corn that I use less frequently.

I really like cast iron cookware and find that it is easy to use and care for after a few uses.

It is a little on the heavy side, I notice this more and more as I get older!

Homemade Laundry Detergent Review

Vickie from the Monthly Dishcloths KAL group asked me about the laundry detergent recipe I mentioned a few posts down. This is the one I used:

The Simple Dollar Detergent Recipe

I have read about making laundry detergent at home for years but this was the first time I actually made it. To be honest, I was not impressed. It turned into a gloppy, slimy mess that was inconvenient for me store and measure out.

As far as cleaning goes, it worked pretty well on normal loads but was a disaster in a really greasy load of work clothes. It left a mess in the washer tub that had to be removed with Fast Orange hand cleaner (I think I said GoJo hand cleaner to Vickie...sorry). I figure if the mess was that bad where I could see it, it would also be bad in other places in the washer that I could not see. I was afraid it might ruin the washer or the next load of clothes. 

On the positive side, the clothes seemed softer after being washed with the homemade laundry detergent whether they were line dried or I used the dryer. I also add some essential oil...a few drops of Orange Valencia, if I remember correctly...when I made the detergent. It made the detergent smell good and the clothes came out smelling very clean, not really scented at all, which I really liked.

I had decide to stick with the store bought detergent, using less than the recommended amount on most loads and a little more on the greasy ones. Then Vickie sent me this link:

Homemade Laundry Detergent Powder

That would be easier to store and mix.....hmmmm.....I do like to make thing myself....hhhmmmmmmmm....

I might have to wait a little while to try the dried version.....I have got to use up the gloppy version first!

Knitting Instruction Page Holder

I don't like to mark up my pattern when I am knitting so I came up with a way to keep track of where I am on the pattern without marking on the page.

I use this holder for instructions printed on an 8.5 X 11in. sheet of paper. It could be adapted to any size with some creative stapling though!

1. Get 1 gallon size freezer bag (10-9/16 X 11 in.)
2. Slip pattern page into bag, lining up the right side of the pattern page with the right side of the bag and the bottom of the page with the bottom of the bag.
3. Carefully staple along the left side of the page, right next to the pattern page, being careful not to actually catch the page.
4. Close the top of the bag.
5. Use a Sharpie marker to cross out the rows as you do them. The marks will come off by rubbing with a paper towel in case you need to re-do a row.

Now you can slide your patterns in and out of the bag. You can use the extra space to store your marker, needles or notions while the work is in progress. The bag can be reused several times.

This is my original idea and drawing. Please do not copy. You may, of course, make some for your own use.

Circular Needle Holder

Here is how I am storing my circular needles:

1. Get a small envelope (3-5/8in. X 6-1/2in.)
2. Seal the back flap. Use tape to reinforce the seal.
3. Flip envelope to the front side.
4. Cut off one of the short ends.
5. Label the sleeve with needle size and length.
6. Roll up the cable and insert the needle into the envelope, the way it was in it's original sleeve.
7. Make as many as you need, making sure to cut the same end off each one.
8. Arrange them in order of needle size and length and store the envelopes in a shoe box.

Double Point Knitting Needle Holder

How to Make your own cheap DPN holder:

1. Get a 10-9/16in. X 11in. zip top freezer bag.
2. Using a marker, draw lines about 1 to 1.5 in. apart from the zip top to the bottom of the bag.
3. Staple along those lines, starting a few inches below the zip top closure.
4. Using a permanent marker, label each slot with the needle size.
5. Put needles in appropriate slot and close top.

Taking The Challenge.

Sylvia over at the Christian Homekeeper has issued a challenge that you can read about here: Christian Homekeeper.

Here is what I am doing today:

1. Made homemade laundry detergent for the first time this
    morning.

2. Plan to use leftovers for supper.
    (Not from the detergent, from supper last night!)

3. Found 2 stamps and walked to the mail box instead of driving to 
    the P.O..

4. I am mixing up an equal amount of powdered milk to mix with the
    milk in the carton, delaying a trip to the store.

5. Potting up some herb plants.

WWGD

...What Would Grandma Do?  Or maybe WDGD...What Did Grandma Do?, would be more accurate. In her younger days my Grandma lived in the country, way out in the country. She did not have a car. She did not go town every day. She rarely shopped for non-necessities. I am wandering if the key to my living more frugally in the country is to live more like grandma did?

I have been thinking this over and I've come up with a few lessons from grandma:

1. Drive less....way less!

2. Consume less...way less!

3. Waste less...way less!

What frugal things did your grandma do that you can apply to your life today?

A New Catagory!

I have decided to add a new catagory called A Penny Saved.... It will be a place for my frugal ideas, finds, and ramblings.

Kitchen Tip Tuesday!

My tip for the day:

Sort your potatoes. Usually the large bags of potatoes are a great buy but the potatoes are not nearly as uniform in size as the smaller more expensive bags. So here's what I do. I sort them into at least a couple of different sizes. I save the largest for baking and use the rest for frying or cooking. That way you get premium baking potatoes for a very cheap price!

You can find more tips here:  Tammy's Recipes

Enchiladas!!!

I made them Saturday! I have been craving them for a while. Here are the pictures:

1. The pork roast after a day in the crock-pot and a night in the refrigerator.

2. Ready to roll!

3. Ready for the oven!

4. Ready to eat!

I was trying to recreate a dish that I had in a restaurant. I just combined a lot of ideas and came up with the dish. I made the sauce and the tortillas from scratch and they both turned out pretty good.

I think I will thin down the sauce a little next time to make them even softer and easier to chew.. These were pretty soft though! 

I served them with Mexican Rice, Re-fried beans, salsa, sour cream, and a sliced avocado.

I got great tips and ideas from the ladies at the Titus 2 Christian Homekeeper's Forum.
The sauce recipe came from  Lori4SquareMom's Place.

I Have A New Favorite Jam!

I had noticed WindStone Farm Jam at the grocery store before. It has a nice label, natural ingredients, and is made in small batches here in Kentucky. It is a little on the expensive side so I had not tried it until I found some on sale at Wal-mart the other day.

Let me just say, I will be buying it again! The strawberry jam actually tastes like strawberries.

I am able to purchase it locally at several locations but it can be ordered from Wind Stone Farm.

BTW: I don't get anything in return for my endorsement-just wanted to share!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Today's tip:

Measure accurately to save money in the kitchen. I have found that I always over estimate amounts unless I take the time to measure. With grocery prices what they are today those "little bits" add up to a "whole lot" very quickly.

I really enjoy Tammy's site and have wanted to participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesday for a couple of weeks now. I almost missed it again!

Cheesecake and Baking Day

Cheesecake:

First let me say that I love cheesecake, cheap cheesecake, expensive cheesecake, store bought cheesecake, home made cheesecake. I love cheesecake from a mix, deep fried cheesecake (yes deep fried cheesecake), even cafeteria cheesecake with canned pie filling topping. Yes, I love cheesecake! And this one is the best one I have had in a long time!

Baking Day:

I did have a few misadventures on baking day. First, I put the pound cake in the cold oven and turned the oven on as per the recipe. As it heated up smoke started coming from the oven vent. This is the same oven in which I had baked greasy meatloaf a few days before. I had to open the oven door occasionally to let the smoke escape but it did not seem to effect the taste of the cake.

Next I mixed up the cheesecake and put it in the oven. Smoke once again came from the vent. You see, I have a really cheap spring-form pan that I haven't used in quite some time. I had forgotten that it leaks and that I needed to wrap it with aluminum foil when I use it. I took the cheesecake out, wrapped the pan, cleaned up the butter mess the best I could and put the cheesecake back in the oven. My baking time was way off after all that. Luckily, Tanya included the finished temperature of the cheesecake with her recipe so I was able to tell when it was done.

Lastly I baked the bread. There was not any smoking to speak of by the time I got the bread in to bake. I did have to open the outside doors to air out the house a couple of times during the baking marathon but at least the food did not end up smoke flavored.

Now I need to clean the oven!

Reviews Are in!

On two recipes anyway. The pound cake was good but the Oatmeal Honey Whole Wheat Bread was the best bread I have made so far. My husband and I ate about half of a loaf last night!

As far as the cheesecake goes, I am following directions and letting it set in the fridge overnight before I try it. I did try the batter left in the mixing bowl and I am not one bit ashamed to tell you that I scooped out every little bit with a spatula and ate it, raw eggs and all. Man, that was delicious!!! I can't wait till supper...I think I'll make some sort of strawberry sauce to go with it.

Baking Day

The weather today is supposed to be cold with some rain or snow showers. I think it will be a good day to bake!

Here's my list:

1. Amish Half-a-Pound Cake from The Baking Circle.

2. Classic Cheesecake from Chocolatechic's Blog.

3. Oatmeal Honey Wheat Bread from The Baking Circle.

The Baking Circle is part of The King Arthur Flour web page. You have to join the forum to get access to member recipes. There is a lot of helpful information and you can save favorites to your recipe box, too.

 Chocolatechic's blog has lots of recipes and is quite fun to read!

Finally, Pictures!

Here are the bars in my cardboard box molds:

 Here are some of the cut bars:

Kitty, thanks for the tip! I did not know that. My biggest problem was getting them small enough to load on the site. I think I am getting the hang of it now. I downloaded a program called GIMP and I am learning to do a few simple things with it. I have also noticed that there are times when pictures will load faster than others.