Grandma's Apron

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few.

It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.. And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,bent over the hot wood stove.Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Crocheted Hats for Twins

These are the little hats I made for my friends twin girls. It was a fun project!

Crocheted Hot Pad

This is one of my projects I have made. I used an acrylic, multi - colored yarn for this Hot Pad. It was a lot bigger than the other ones I have made but it is nice for place large dishes or pots on.

Florentines

Have you ever had Florentines? I never had but decided to make them this year for some gift baskets. They were super-de-duperly easy and quick! Not to mention DELICIOUS!

1 3/4 Cup Almonds 3T. Flour

1/4 t. salt 3/4 cup Sugar

2 T. heavy cream 2 T. corn syrup

5 T. unsalted butter 1/2 t. vanilla

Orange Zest, about 2 T.

*Almond bark, melted for drizzling*

Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking sheets. Pulse almonds in food processor until finely chopped. (We don't have a food processor so I just chopped them as finely as I could) Stir together nuts, flour, zest and salt in bowl. (I didn't have unsalted butter so I skipped adding the salt and just used salted butter) Put the sugar, cream (I used hald and half) corn syrup and butter in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until boiling and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then pour over almond mixture and stir. Let cool till workable, about 30 mins. (I put it outside on my window ledge in the freezing cold so it was workable within 15 mins, for me)

Take 1/2 t. sized amount and put six to a pan. (The original recipe I followed said teaspoon sized but that was way to big for my pans. You can test one or two to determine the size you want to make them at and just to see how the cook adn how much they actually spread out. ) Bake about 5 mins (the recipe told me to bake for 10 - 12 but that was way too long, ovens vary) until flattened and brownish in color. Process is rapid so be sure to keep an eye on it. Let cool on pans for a minute before moving to cooling rack. Make sure you are careful with them as they are delicate/brittle. Drizzle with melted chocolate as a finishing touch... Enjoy!

Everythings Always Better When It's Home Grown

I was standing in the checkout line at the liquor store with a big, cheap bottle of wine. As I was about to put the bottle on the counter my eye caught another bottle on a shelf. It was Home Grown. I walked over and was instantly sold on it; one for the adorable mud boots and I loved how on the back it not only had quotes but it said, "Collect 6 different cork quotes and redeem for wearable at..." The cork not only had the little mud boots on it but a quote that said, "Even Elvis wore shirts his mother made..." Maybe I was a sucker for looks but regardless it, thankfully, turned out to be a good wine as well. I would definitly buy another bottle if they get more in. Thought I would share.