Spinning a random post from one Hodgepodge question

 

 This week there is just not time to write a Hodgepodge post.  Sometimes when that happens, I'm able to answer just one question and that works out great.  Not this time, though.  The one question I would have answered would have been about my favorite cookbook(s). 

That would take way more time than I have today, so I'm simply spinning it into a post about cooking magazines, vintage and newer, which I have always enjoyed cooking and baking from.  Most of the text is coming from a draft of a book I'm thinking of publishing about kitchens I have known and loved. 

You may never have heard of Farm Journal, a magazine which was subscribed to by farmers and ranches all over the United States — maybe Canada too.  In the 1960s my family subscribed to it.  Near the back of this magazine was a fairly hefty section just for women.  Loads of wonderful recipes that had been sent in by readers or developed in the Farm Journal test kitchen were featured here.  The recipes for a specific issue of the magazine often had a theme — say, garden produce, gifts from the kitchen, cakes, beef or chicken main dishes, or whatever.  When the Farm Journal arrived in our home and I got my hands on it, the recipes were the first things I turned to.  I imagine a lot of country women and teen girls did the same.  

Farm Journal cover from December 1961

And then, logically enough, Farm Journal began to produce cookbooks.  How I loved these books!  My mother purchased many of them — and later on, so did I.  There was a cookie cookbook, a large, comprehensive Country Cookbook, a freezing & canning cookbook, an Informal Entertaining Country Style Cookbook (one of my top favorites), a chocolate cookbook, a family favorites cookbook, a healthy snacks cookbook and many more.  

The Farm Journal Homemade Cookies cookbook

Thanks to the evocative and folksy writing style of Nell Nichols, the Farm Journal food editor,  I could read those volumes by the hour.  The recipes were so delicious, too.  The chocolate cookbook is completely spattered and freckled with brown from baking so many of the sweet treats.  The Family Favorites cookbook is another from which I made recipe after recipe.

When Taste of Home magazine came out, both my mother and I subscribed.  I had been  cooking in my own kitchen for some time at that point.  I think the reason we instantly fell in love with Taste of Home is that it had that same folksy feeling as Farm Journal.  Indeed, the reason Farm Wife News, of which Taste of Home was an offshoot, had originally been started was that all of the older farm magazines and journals had begun to discontinue their women’s sections.  Understandably, rural women missed that and were thrilled when Reiman Publications stepped into the void with Farm Wife News.  My mother subscribed to that, as did I after it became Country Woman.  Then Reiman branched out even more with Taste of Home, a cooking magazine loaded with recipes, and a staff of field editors from all over the United States and Canada.  I still have every Taste of Home issue I ever received, and I've cooked and baked from them often.  When Quick Cooking, later renamed Simple & Delicious, came along, I subscribed to those too.

When each new issue arrived, I would always find a new recipe — usually many more than one — that I couldn’t wait to try.  My mother was the same, and so was my friend Marilyn — and later, my daughters when they had their own kitchens.  We would so often compare notes about what recipes appealed to our families and which one we would like to try first.  Some of my very best recipes came from Taste of Home or other Reiman publications.  Although I enjoyed submitting recipes to their contests, it came to the point where I was limited into which ones I could send in.  So many of our favorite recipes had come from there in the first place!

I stopped subscribing to any cooking magazines some years ago.  I have all of the recipes I will ever want or need (although that doesn't stop me from pinning more to my Pinterest boards!) and right now I am cooking with very limited ingredients due to a special diet my hubby is following.  And yet a couple of weeks ago in Maine, I picked up a free 2024 issue of Taste of Home in a thrift shop.  Must be I still find them somewhat irresistible!

Sweet little vintage Christmas card

 

 This little card is a recent find that will be going in my Etsy shop.  The scene reminds me so much of the valley where I grew up.  Mountains all around, a big red barn, friendly folks -- well, I just love it.  The message inside the card is also refreshing and different:

Christmas again!

And may you have the real joys 

that make the season mean so much;

-- warm remembrance, friendly greetings, 

and hearty good cheer.

Isn't that beautiful?  And so much of it is just what I wish for my friends at Christmas.  How about you?

A snippet of a poem

 

 I found this snippet of poetry on a vintage stationery box.  The stationery (by Brownie, apparently a design called "Sweet Clover")  is long gone and the box is in poor shape.  But this bit of verse is too lovely not to share:

I know a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry blooms burst with snow,
And way underneath is the loveliest spot
Where the four leaf clovers grow.

Beautiful, don't you agree?

"Where the sun is like gold" gives a fairly recognizable picture.  "Cherry blooms burst with snow" is a little bit more difficult, but when you realize that cherry trees in bloom often have a snowy look it makes more sense.  Just a pretty, pretty bit of verse that paints a sweet picture for the reader.

Stationery, like so many other things, was so much more meaningful and lovely back in the day. 

A few goals for March

Once again, it's a new month and so I need to set some goals.

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week
* Get back to working through the "Make Room Challenge" from Make Room for What You Love
* Spend time with our friends who are younger believers
* Enjoy our church ladies' gathering
* Post in this blog as often as possible
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible
* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones
* Celebrate March birthdays
* Use Charles Swindoll's devotional Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life for my quiet time daily
* Continue studying and preparing for my Sunday School lessons
* Continue with Stand Firm, a Bible study on the armor of God
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Spend extended time at our volunteer jobs
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating
* Continue to work on memorizing the book of James
* Continue to help a widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* Get to bed by 8:30 each night we are at home
* Drink enough water each day
* Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week

HEALTHY HABITS FOR MARCH:  Drink more water/get more sleep/get more exercise/intermittent fasting/limit carbs

WORD FOR 2024: Continue

Icing on the Hodgepodge

 

It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time for the Hodgepodge -- the linkup where Joyce, at  From This Side of the Pond, asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers on their own blogs.     Here goes!

 1. What's a change you'd like or need to make this year? 

To begin a simple exercise program that will strengthen more of my muscles.  I walk a lot and my legs and thighs show that, but I need to seriously work at strengthening other areas.  Like my arms and core, for instance.  Another important change I want to make this year is to, finally, declutter and downsize the entire house.  High property taxes may mean a move at some point down the road, and if that happens it will be to a smaller place, so I need to be much more ready than I am right now.

A flooded brook turned to ice near my childhood home, some years back.

2. Break the ice, on thin ice, ice skating, tip of the iceberg, ice cold...which icy idiom applies to your life right now? Explain. 

I think I'll say tip of the iceberg.   See the declutter and downsize goal above.  I've done some decluttering and downsizing, but it is the tip of the iceberg.  Another way this applies is to the mountain of items still to sell in my Etsy shop.  I've made nearly 700 sales and this is exciting, but oh -- the amount of vintage paper is almost overwhelming.

3. What's a project you've been putting off? Will you get to it this month? This year?

Starting pillow quilts for my two youngest granddaughters.  I would like to think I will get to it this month.

A past pillow quilt unfolded.

Same pillow quilt folded.

A space-themed pillow quilt unfolded.  Guess I don't have a picture of it folded.  This was a glow in the dark fabric panel if I remember right.

A Curious George pillow quilt, folded.  I've made pillow quilts for all the other grands, so it's obvious I need to complete these last two.

4. Of the fruits that grow well in winter which ones have you tried? Which is your favorite? 

pomegranates, clementines, persimmons, passion fruit, pears, grapefruit, lemons, pomelos, kumquats

 I have tried pomegranates, clementines, passion fruit, pears, grapefruit, lemons and pomelos.  I think of all of them probably grapefruit is my favorite.

5. What do you think it means to be courageous? 

My word for the year in 2019 was courage.   So logically enough I looked at definitions as I approached that word.   Here's what the dictionary said:

I thought it meant quite a bit more, so I looked it up in a Bible dictionary too.

Here is the definition from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary: "the strength of purpose that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty.  Physical courage is based on moral courage -- a reliance on the presence and power of God and a commitment to His commandments."

I like that quite a bit better.  So I would define courageous thusly:   Having the strength of purpose, based on a reliance on God's presence, power, and promises, and commitment to Him and His Word that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty or even face death bravely.

Graphic from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Whew, after that definition almost anything else would feel random.  I think I'll share a couple of skating cards from my collection.  (The Valentine at question 2 is listed in my Etsy shop.)  I bought the one below in a stationery store in the late 1990s specifically to display  it.

"My warmest memories of winters past: A snowman, hot chocolate and skating fast."

I've always loved the scene above.  From my personal collection of vintage cards.

 

Another skating scene from my personal collection, this one with a city theme, which the two below also have.

The two skating scenes above were in my Etsy shop, but sold during November and December.

And that's the icing on the Hodgepodge for this week!

Hodgepodge December 13

 

It's Wednesday again, and time for the Hodgepodge -- the linkup where Joyce, at  From This Side of the Pond, asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers on their own blogs.   This week I'll add in some more vintage Christmas goodies from my collection and/or shop.   Here goes!

1. Oxford's Word of the Year for 2023 is 'rizz'. Hmmm...before today had you ever heard the word? Do you know what it means? (Apparently it's short for charisma) Have you ever used the word? If you were in charge of the world, what word would you declare word of the year for 2023?

Nope, I had never heard the word before.  I wonder how many actually have.  If I had heard it, I might  have heard it as "riz" which is short for risen, as in "riz biscuits" (biscuits leavened with yeast).

No idea what I might pick as word of the year.  Maybe woman.

2. What's one word you tend to abbreviate in your writing or speech? (as in rizz for charisma)

Hmmm... I may need to think about this for a bit.  Maybe "grandkids" or "grands" rather than grandchildren. 

3. Are you a Hallmark movie watcher this time of year? What's your favorite character from a holiday- themed movie, book, or TV special? 

Pretty sure I have never watched even one Hallmark movie.   My experience with holiday-themed movies and TV specials is pretty limited too.  For a favorite character, though, I might pick Clarence (I think that's the angel's name, right?) from It's a Wonderful Life.  He gets funnier every time I watch it.

4. Something you look forward to eating this month? 

Christmas cookies. 

 

5. What's the most stressful part of the holiday season for you? 

It's a busy time of year in my Etsy shop, on my blogs, at church, and in real life.  Keeping an appropriate balance may be the most stressful part. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Every year I try to do daily December posts on both blogs. I don't always manage it here, but I try to be very consistent about it with my Christmas blog, Mrs. T's Christmas Kitchen.  Check it out if you haven't visited!

And that's the Hodgepodge for this week!

 

Very occasionally, procrastination actually pays off

 

 Those are words I may never have expected to hear myself say.  I fight procrastination every day of my life.  I guess it may be a common character flaw to many people.  But this time it did work in my favor.  I'll explain.

For many years I've had a large collection of Taste of Home magazines.  You can read about my Christmas issues here.  Every couple of months, I like to get out part of my stash of older Taste of Home magazines -- the ones for the particular season we're in-- and browse through them.  (I often do this with my Cook & Tell newsletters as well.)  Invariably I find some neat recipes that I had forgotten about, or ones I had meant to try and never got around to.  I keep most of the out-of-season magazines neatly stacked in a bookcase, and transfer the ones for the current season to a bakers rack in the dining area where they are handy for browsing.

I was thinking in mid-October that I needed to get out the Thanksgiving and Christmas issues.  It's been such a busy year for us and I couldn't even remember the last seasonal issues I had brought out.  (I keep a folder of healthy recipes and one of slow cooker recipes stacked atop my seasonal magazines in the bakers rack.)  So I reached under those folders to see what season was there.

Lo and behold!  Thanksgiving, starting with the very issue you see at the top of this post!  And, stacked just beneath them, the Christmas issues!  There was no need to change out the issues, as I had apparently never changed them out at any point in 2023.  They were just as they'd been left in 2022.   And rather than being disgusted with myself for procrastinating, I am actually very thankful for it, as it has saved me some work at a very busy time.  Now I can browse Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes at my leisure.

December weekend 2

 

 It was another festive weekend as we move toward Christmas!

I've already told you about the Christmas book (pictured above)  that I found at our local thrift store last week, but I will share again for any who may have missed it.  We've been enjoying it very much as it is so Christ-centered.  I paid 50¢, but Thriftbooks has it for $4.19 if you are so inclined.  You can see it here: The Heart & Home of Christmas.  I brought it along to our camp as we stayed over that night.  Mr. T enjoyed reading through it while I worked on other projects.

I guess this book came to mind because we went to the thrift store again this Friday.  It isn't usually a regular stop for us, unless we are dropping off donations.  But last week, we had bought a few Christmas plates (plastic) and we've already used several of them. It seemed a good idea to look for a few more.  These plates were 50¢, so it beats the dollar store.  We bought a half dozen in various sizes and designs.

My local daughter also suggested that I check out some special vintage Christmas books she had seen in the Christmas room at this shop.  They are subtitled An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art.  I did buy one just for fun.  The image below is the one that I bought.  It's from 1959.  I paid $5 but have seen them online for $18 and up!  Some of the older ones at the thrift store were as high as $12.

 I hope to blog about this book later this week when I have time to look through it more.

We browsed the Christmas room a little more and I picked up a package of 3 lovely glass ornaments for only $1 (if I remember right).  The bottom part is painted gold on the inside and the rest is clear.  So pretty!

Also on Friday we did our grocery shopping and picked up a few ingredients for cookie baking. Our supermarket has rolls of really fun kraft wrapping paper for $1.99, so we got a couple rolls.  Probably some of the unused rolls we have in the attic will end up going to the thrift store.  I like these much better!

 Saturday was a festive day from beginning to end.  In the morning I was able to attend a monthly ladies' Bible study which I enjoy so much.  I've mentioned our friend Amanda Reed, who leads this study, before.  This summer, she and her family moved to a beautiful log cabin with amazing views.  It was so fun to see how Amanda had added Christmasy touches like bows and ornaments to snowshoes both on her porch and on inside walls (and I wish I'd had a means of taking photos).  She also had jars of simple greenery all around the house.  

This was the last Bible study for awhile as we finished up this study on idolatry: More Than Anything.  We will resume in the spring with a new study.

Amanda had prepared a lovely brunch for us as it was our last time together for awhile: a delicious egg bake, fruit salad, pecan coffeecake, and smoothies.  Beyond kind.  It was such a gift to all of us.  You can read Amanda's latest blog post here: Making a Big Deal of Christmas.  I'm sure you would find it a blessing!

In the afternoon, my hubby and I were embroiled in all kinds of festive pursuits as I finished some cookies and he brought in the Christmas tree.  My hubby had previously made some chocolate pressed cookies in the shape of Christmas trees and I was turning them into little cookie sandwiches with minty white chocolate.

You can find the recipe here: Chocolate Peppermint Trees.  I didn't tint the white chocolate pale green as the recipe says, but instead left it white and then sprinkled on some green sugar.  Below you see them in their freezer box.

After that, I also baked some Chocolate Orange Cookies.  I just love the festive flavors of chocolate and orange together!

 
All the while, as I baked and he set up the Christmas tree, we had Christmas music playing and it was just a nice time together even though in separate areas much of the time.  We finished decorating the tree together after supper.

And then Sunday was a very festive day as we enjoyed our Christmas program at church.  Lots of music, Scripture, kids playing bells, and much more.  It was a very nice program that showcased the true meaning of Christmas!

Sunday afternoon Mr. T was out of town for a few hours so I wrote some blog posts, packaged up some Etsy orders, and wrote a few Christmas cards.  Below you see what one of the Etsy orders was for -- this gorgeous unused vintage Christmas card.

And that was the second weekend in December!

A question from the Hodgepodge

 

 I'm not going to find time today to link up to the Hodgepodge, so I borrowed one of the questions that interested me to answer:

3. According to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine there are seven popular color trends for the holidays this year. They are- red and white, Victorian blue, pops of pink, rich shades of green, rainbow hues, black and white, and nostalgic retro colors. Are you 'trendy' when it comes to holiday decorating in 2022? How so? Does your tree have a 'theme'?

I am not "trendy" when it comes to holiday decorating -- nor when it comes to anything else.  I don't care for trends.

If I were to pick from one of these "color trends", it would either be red and white or nostalgic retro colors.  In fact, it probably will be the latter, since most of what I'll be using is vintage ornaments.

And our tree seldom has a theme.  I was going to say "never has a theme" but for a few years I had a small tree upstairs that had a Victorian theme, with lots of mauve, ivory and pink along with lace and velvet.

Ordinarily, though, our tree is quite eclectic with a lot of different colors and styles of ornaments.  Below you see last year's tree.  I like to use white lights simply because there are so many different colors on the tree already.

 This year, I'm very sure our tree (which we have barely begun to think about bringing in) won't have any theme except the joy of Christmas itself, however we express that in our decorating.

A sale at my Etsy shop

 

 Just a quick public service announcement:  I'm running a sale at my Etsy shop, A New Hampshire Attic, now through the end of June.  Every single listing in the shop is 25% off through June 30.  I hope you'll go over and check it out.  If you enjoy all things vintage, I'm sure you'll have fun browsing through the shop!

Pastel Christmas sweetness

 

 If you've ever done much looking at vintage Christmas cards (as I definitely have, because of my Etsy shop), you know that at intervals over the years pastel colors have often been very popular at Christmas time.  I know I've written a little about this in the past on my other blog, back when I only owned a couple of cards in this category.

I tend to prefer traditional colors of red and green in my own Christmas decorating, though I have decorated with different themes over the years and have at different times had more "country" or "woodsy" colors in the living room, where they fit better, or used white, mauve and green on a Victorian themed tree I once had in our bedroom.  I love an eclectic tree with all kinds of different colors for our main Christmas tree.  

But as I've looked at and handled the lovely pastel cards of yesteryear,  I must admit to having fallen in love with some of them, the one at the top of the post in particular.  Pastels are so pretty with holly, pine sprigs, and mistletoe.  I'm just going to post some of the scans of my cards and add brief captions.

Angels and manger in pastels

Pastel bell swag

Pastel ornaments in a crystal dish

Oh, what a pretty candle and arrangment!

Pastel blue candle with glitter

Love this wreath with snowflakes

I hope you've enjoyed this look at some of yesterday's pastel Christmas cards.

A beautiful vintage poem

 

I'm blessed to have a wonderful collection of vintage New Hampshire Troubadour magazines from the late 1940s through 1950.  These little magazines (they measure only about 4 1/2 by 6 inches and contain about 16 pages) are treasure troves of vintage New Hampshire goodness.  Over the masthead on the first page is this statement:

The New Hampshire Troubadour comes to you every month singing the praises of New Hampshire, a state whose beauty and opportunities should tempt you to come here and share those good things that make life here so delightful.  

That is how things used to be, friends.  The magazine was produced by the State Planning and Development Commission and a subscription cost 50¢ per year.

The photo at the top of the post was the inside front cover of the December 1947 issue.  Oh, what a beautiful reminder of days gone by!  The poem I am going to share -- The Old, Old Joys by Avis Turner French -- comes from this issue.

THE OLD, OLD JOYS

I want for Christmas more than anything,
The old, old joys, the folks I love all near
Beneath the treasured roof of home once more
As we have been for every happy year.
To gather Christmas Eve for gifts of love,
To laugh for sheer delight believing this,
The deepest joys of life are simple ways
Like words of tenderness, a gentle kiss.
I want the atmosphere of mystery
As much as when a child, the tinsel glow,
To sing the songs that never will grow old,
How Christ had come to bless us long ago.
On Christmas day I wish to share with those
Less fortunate than I, to freely give,
For only by the giving of one's best
Does one grow richer, learning how to live.
At last I want to climb a snow-clad hill
To watch the miracles of earth and sky,
To read within the firmament His law,
That good triumphs, that love can never die.
I want these joys, oh, more than anything.

-- Avis Turner French

Isn't that beautiful?  It speaks so very much of what my childhood Christmases were like.  My grandmother's farmhouse, where many of my Christmas memories are centered, is still standing.  It looks somewhat different inside, but some things are the same.  My own childhood home is still standing, but barely.  It looks as if it is dying by inches as it is dismantled bit by bit.  At the end an excavator will come in and knock it down.  That stings a bit, but I am oh, so thankful for my memories.

Yet I want these joys -- the ones the poet spoke about so eloquently -- for others too.  So many folks today have never experienced a Christmas like this.  So much has been taken from us as a society over the years.  I certainly pray that we will once again learn how to live,  to give our best, to point others to the timeless truths of God's Word.  Many of us may never again gather "beneath the treasured roof of home" -- but we can still share the "deepest joys of life" with our loved ones.  I hope that you all enjoyed this poem as much as I did!

Something new in my Etsy shop!

 I'm trying something new in the way of Etsy shop listings in the Vintage Christmas category: small and simple ephemera packs for people to use in paper crafting and other projects.  This is proving to be a great way to sell some bits and pieces that otherwise might get lost in the shuffle.  So far I've put together four of these, and two have sold.

The first ephemera pack I put together was a classic Christmas theme with mostly red, green, white and gold components.  I'm including unused cards, used cards, card fronts, vintage tags and stickers, and more.  I'm adding a vintagey Christmas photo card into each pack too.  I'm wrapping up each assortment in a strip of vintage, or vintage-look, wrapping paper.

I'll show you the finished four packs and a few of the items for each one.  The photo for the first pack shows nearly everything it contains, but others do not.

Next I got the idea to make a "Blue Christmas" pack.  Many Christmas cards have a blue theme, and I have always loved those, so ...

 

Next I assembled an ephemera pack in shades of green.

The most recent pack I've put together is items with a red, or red and white theme.

What do you think?  Which of these would be your favorite?  Do you like the idea of a real assortment of colors and designs in a paper ephemera pack?  Or would you prefer items of mostly one color?  Any ideas for other colors or Christmas themes I should feature?  (I've considered candles, Santas, bells, lanterns, snow scenes and more, but I'd be open to more ideas.)