Monthly Archives

August 2008

16 In Articles

Proud to be an American

Auburn football and USA swimming {especially Michael Phelps mad skills} are the only two sporting events that make me jump up and down in front of the tv screen like an absolute mad woman! I really think my children {who were still awake last night} thought I had lost my mind!

Please tell me you all saw it!?

Way to go USA!
43 In Articles/ Recipes

Congealed Salads & Strollers

If that title doesn’t make you wonder I’m not sure anything will. The fact of the matter is these 2 things just so happen to be on my mind lately.

I’ll start with the Congealed Salads.

I’m an anti-texture person {as in, I have an aversion to textures in foods that I think would be better smooth}. I like my yogurt creamy without “fruit on the bottom” or anywhere for that matter. I like my oatmeal cookies without the raisins. I like my chocolate chip cookies & brownies without the nuts. You get the picture. So, you can also imagine that “Congealed Salads” are probably pretty far from my radar screen. It tends to be the one dish I usually avoid at Thanksgiving and those “Quarterly Church-wide Covered Dish” meals. Well, I’m proud to announce that I’m growing up and I have potentially turned into Aunt Bethany {you know, from Christmas Vacation– where she brings a jello mold clad with cat food}.

While I was recovering from the birth of the last child, my friend Tami brought us a delicious dinner and with it was a congealed salad. Living in the deep south, I imagine a meal is often thought incomplete without a congealed salad or white acre peas. Being a “transplant” I’ve become aware of these type things. Anyway, the salad was orange in nature and looked fairly harmless, I didn’t see too many “chunks” and I thought I might try it… so I did. And it was absolutely delicious. And guess what? The girls loved it too. So the other day I went searching for the recipe, I knew it had pineapple, orange jello & cool whip but I couldn’t remember the rest. I found it. The pineapple in the salad was “crushed” and had it been “chunked” I may have wimped out. Anyway, when I was searching for the “Orange Buttermilk Salad” I came across a recipe for a “Strawberry Pretzel SaladI’m sure I’m the last person on earth to try this delectable, but just in case I’m not have you ever heard of such a concoction? You must try it. It’s not nearly as gross as it sounds, in fact it’s delicious. The crushed pretzels and butter make a salty yummy crust which is topped with a sweetened cream cheese layer, and it’s all topped with the “congealed” strawberries! Mmmm! The only thing I would do differently is go for fresh strawberries rather than the frozen sliced ones. They were in syrup and that combined with the jello was too sweet. Y’all try it!

***

The next topic that has been on my mind lately is STROLLERS. Well, actually leaving the house has been on my mind lately and with three very little ones in order to accomplish “leaving the house” a stroller is necessary. I’m not talking about leaving the house to go shopping or anything that would require taking all 3 in public just yet. I’m talking about taking my 3 children out of the house to go for a walk. Morgan starts preschool next week, but will only go 2 days a week, which leaves 3 more weekdays at home with mommy. I’m sure the time I’m allowed on my own with the baby the 2 days she’s at school will be used for more urgent needs {like grocery shopping} rather than walking. So, I started to look online for a stroller that would accommodate 3 children. I could use my sling & a double stroller but I after just a couple uses I’ve been made aware it’s not intended for exercise use.
I’ve come to the conclusion that in order for me to leave I will have to…
a) find a stroller that all 3 can ride in

or

b) find someone who will walk with me and push a stroller with one child while I push a stroller with 2

In my search this is what I found…

Seriously, how hard would you laugh if you saw me pushing this thing down the street? It really looks like I could fit three 7-year olds in it. Not to mention the fact that I think the children would need some counseling if I made them ride in it. And it would only look more “normal” if I wore a helmet while pushing it.

Then there’s this one…

Which isn’t really that bad, but… we’d have to draw straws before the walk to determine which of the 3 would get to ride shotgun hood ornament. And from the looks of it, it’d have to be the Raiger and it’d take a handful of pacis to get her in there.

Maybe I’ll just TRY to get up early and walk by myself. That sounds much more enjoyable at this stage of my life… and it’s certainly a lot cheaper… those strollers cost $785 and $700 respectively. Yeah, I’ll just walk by myself. It’d probably be better for my mental health anyway!

15 In Articles

"the old has gone, the new has come"

For those of you who have been around know that I thoroughly enjoy things that are old, especially if they can be made new. If you haven’t been around long you can read more about this here. One thing that has always tickled my fancy is vintage fabric. Unfortunately it is fairly hard to come by if you want pieces that are decent in size, in good shape & unstained. You can find loads of it online but because I can’t feel it, smell it, or see ALL of it, I tend to be hesitant to purchase.

While we were away on our adventure Erika and I hit up the “Vintage Collection” which she has featured {w/pictures} here. I was smitten with all the tea towels and tablecloths and managed to come across the little gem pictured above {for less than $3}. Isn’t she so pretty? I could buy a kitchen hand towel at Target or Kmart for the same price {or less} but it certainly wouldn’t be this pretty or have any “history”. She hangs on my dishwasher handle and brightens my kitchen.


This fabric has been in my mother’s sewing closet for probably 30+ years. And thankfully it has been traveling with me for the last 6+ years. They don’t make fabric like this anymore, or if they do, I haven’t seen it. I’ve always wanted to do “something” with it but haven’t come across the right project. Well, yesterday in my computer’s absence I sat down during nap time and did a little something just for me.

For those of you who are interested in sewing but are just getting started or for those of you who love to sew and have been doing it for many years, I recommend you check out Sew Mama, Sew! and their BLOG. It’s in my “reader” and I always love to see what’s up next. They are chocked full of free tutorials. I read about this “tote tutorial” shortly after John Martin was born, printed it off, and have been wanting to try it. I’m starting a Bible study next week and couldn’t think of a better reason to create a new bag to tote my books & Bible in! Irene knows what she’s talking about and has created a very easy to follow tutorial. I followed it to a “T” {well, I did pin my long straps before I sewed them shut because they didn’t want to feed through the machine together} and I’m beyond thrilled with the result! I had never used my “triple stitch” and realized what a fantastic stitch it is for items like bags. I also like the “aesthetic” effect of a “thick” looking stitch.


The bag’s gussets make it a great bag for hauling anything from books, to toys, to groceries. It was very easy to make and I highly recommend this tote-torial! {Ok, that was cheesy!} Please share pictures if you give this one a try!