Cookbook review: Grandma's Favorites

 

 I have SO many Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.  It's true that the majority of them are Christmas cookbooks, which I have trouble resisting, but many are books I've received for free in exchange for having a recipe published.  This year I'm hoping to share quite a few cookbook reviews with you all, so you can get an idea which ones you might enjoy adding to your own collection.  

Grandma's Favorites has been redone and now includes photos, 

but the edition pictured at the top of the post, the one I own, is still available on Thriftbooks.  One thing I particularly love about the cover of the edition I have is the inclusion of granny squares.  The strip of granny squares across the top above the title is lovely, and I also like the pretty granny square hot mats or pot holders at lower left.  I'd love to find a pattern to make some of these.

But on to the cookbook review!  The little note on the cover summarizes: "Can't-miss recipes for delicious family dinners, just like Grandma used to make."  Inside, the Dedication is "For everyone who craves the old-fashioned comfort of sharing meals with family & friends ... who know that the secret ingredient is love!" 

 The authors say: "Our most heartfelt thanks to all of you who shared their family's cherished recipes, saved on index cards and scraps of paper."  That sentiment really resonated with me, since in cleaning out the family homestead,  I have come across so very many index cards and scraps of paper with recipes scribbled on them.

Fun fact: Two of my recipes are actually included in this book -- a salad and a dessert.

The table of contents includes just six chapters: Old-Fashioned Breakfasts; Chill-Chasing Soups & Breads; Fresh-Picked from Grandma's Garden; Grandma's Best Supper Dishes; Fun Foods for Get-Togethers; and Something Sweet for You!

Old-Fashioned Breakfasts has a lot of great recipes for breakfast casseroles and other hearty breakfast main courses, as well as for  coffee cakes, muffins, pancakes, French toast, fruit dishes, some homemade jams and even Old-Fashioned Hot Cocoa!  I've made the Frozen Fruit Cups (only I used plastic cups rather than muffin tin liners) often in the past and they are good.  I used to make Butter Dip biscuits in the past also, but this method (using the exact same ingredients) is much easier than the one I used.  I think I will make these, using this method, to accompany a stew the next time our young friends come for lunch.  One of the main-dish recipes, Bacon & Sausage Gravy, looks over-the-top delicious.  Not sure I will be able to resist trying that one!

Chill-Chasing Soups & Breads is filled with recipes and hints for making those classic partners,  bread and soup.  There are at least a half-dozen different chicken soup recipes, as well as many other soups and breads like rolls, cornbread, biscuits, Irish soda bread, and quick breads.  There are several recipes for chili, a New England clam chowder, a creamy shrimp chowder, and a zucchini garden chowder (pictured below) which I've made several times and which we really enjoy.  All in all, this chapter would be a wonderful resource for fall and winter suppers.

Fresh-Picked from Grandma's Garden is a chapter filled with vegetable salads, side dishes, and even quite a few canning recipes for pickles, relishes and jams.  Veggie-Loaded Potato Salad, with cucumber, celery, radishes and green onions in addition to potatoes, with a flavorful mayo-based dressing, sounds really good to me -- or maybe I'm just tired of winter.  My own recipe for refrigerator carrot salad is in this section.  There's a Garden Vegetable Casserole which sounds easy and good, one for Fire & Ice pickles which I'd love to try,  and a couple of jams that sound so deliciously different -- Spicy Apple Pie Jam, and Blueberry-Lemon Jam.  

Grandma's Best Supper Dishes is just what it sounds like: a chapter full of homey supper meals.  Lots of pasta dishes as well as a mustard gravy chicken that sounds fantastic, a pork chop and apple bake, oven sausage & peppers, a fancier tuna noodle casserole, and several delicious-looking slow cooker recipes.  Milk-Baked Fish reminds me of my mother as she often baked haddock or other white fish in milk.  We loved it that way.  Granny's Hot Dogs and Potatoes sounds like a nice dish to have for supper at the cottage some chilly spring evening.  

Fun Foods for Get-Togethers is the next chapter, and it includes recipes for dips, snacks, spreads, sandwiches, beverages and other fun foods.  Deviled eggs, pickles, a cheese ball or two.  Betty's Deviled Ham & Cheese Ball sounds fantastic.  I'm probably odd, but I have always loved the flavor of deviled ham and can almost taste this cheese ball.  There are also burgers, salsa, and much much more.  

Something Sweet for You is a logical ending chapter to a cookbook of Grandma's Favorites.  There are pies, cobblers, cakes, brownies and other cookies, cream puffs, and much more.  My own recipe for double-good blueberry pie is here.  There's a brownie ice cream pie that sounds fantastic.  There are a number of delicious-sounding cookie recipes, including Granny's Cornflake Cookies, which has only three ingredients: corn flakes, butterscotch chips, and crunchy peanut butter, and requires no baking.  There are several nice cake recipes and even a recipe for homemade ice cream!  There's a recipe for pecan pie bars -- like pecan pie, but made in a jelly roll pan.  What a practical way to serve pecan pie to a large family or a crowd!  There's a recipe for cream puffs that sounds scrumptious,  and even a couple of canning recipes, one for canned apple pie filling and the other for apple-walnut maple conserve.

There are so many charming line drawings in this addition of the book, too.  Just a sweet country cookbook with all sorts of classic recipes as well as some truly innovative ones.  I'm glad this cookbook found its way to my bookshelf!

Snowy day in New Hampshire!

 Yes, it's a snowy morning here.  We had some heavy wet snow overnight.  Not a lot of snow in inches, but because it is heavy it has coated every branch of every tree.  I'm going to just share a few photos and captions.

Above is a corner of our balcony.  Bent-over trees like this can be a common phenomenon, especially for birch trees (Have you ever read Robert Frost's poem Birches? If not, you will want to look it up.) but in this case the tree is a maple.  When my hubby opened the balcony door to take this photo, the storm door immediately fogged up.  Hence the foggy look of this particular picture.

Our bird feeder is out in the middle of this clothesline to keep squirrels away.

Our snowy back woods.

Just a close-up of some snowy branches.

Snow-topped sap buckets.

And more of the same.  Just a pretty sight.

Tire swing half buried in snow.

Snowy trees in our front yard.

These are at the edge of our lawn.

Another sap bucket.  Those are beech leaves which tend not to drop in the fall.

Tall snowy treetops.

Our driveway and my hubby's old red plow truck.  

Hope it's a pleasant day where you are.  If you are not in New Hampshire, you can enjoy our snow from a distance!

Sunday Scripture

 

As I mentioned last Sunday, I'm finishing up a One Chapter a Day study of Psalms 101-150 from Good Morning Girls.  Although I love working on more in-depth Bible studies, these simpler ones are also a blessing to do.  In fact, once I finish this GMG Psalms study, I hope to begin the one that preceded it for Psalms 51-100, then maybe tackle a more in-depth study of  Psalms from the The Daily Grace Co.  But we will see.  I don't want to get ahead of myself. 

 I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the journal from GMG uses a very similar method.  I find this method a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones, so I hope you'll give it a try if you haven't ever done so. Just a reminder that the S is for Scripture -- just write it out -- and the O is for Observation, the A is for Application and the P is for prayer -- concerning how you'll apply this verse or praise for what it means to you.

This study also includes a reflection question for each passage.  Sometime I answer this in my study, and sometimes not.  Most often, when I do answer it, I'll do so right after the SOAP part.

Today's study is from Psalm 132.  Today we were to focus on verse 7, but I chose to look closely at verses 7 and 9, with a passing glance at verse 6.  As you will see, though, I did some work on the entire psalm, which I found to be a bit of a challenge.  Here goes:

S= "Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah; we found it in the fields of the wood.  We will go into His tabernacles; we will worship at His footstool.  Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Thy saints shout for joy."  (Psalm 132:6-7; 9)

O= C.I. Scofield has titled this psalm "Trust in the God of David."  It's another of the Songs of Ascents, and as we read verse 7 in particular, we can almost hear pilgrims singing this on their way up to Jerusalem.  

Look back up at verses 6-7 above.  Spurgeon observes: "Before leaving [verse 7] let us note the ascent of this psalm of degrees: 'we heard ... we found .. we will go ... we will worship'."

For the phrase "we will go into His tabernacles", a cross-reference is given of Psalm 122:1-2 --

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.  Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

Another writer referenced Hebrews 10:25 -- 

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together ... but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

In The Treasury of David, Spurgeon quotes Anthony Farindon:

"Note their alacrity and cheerfulness in going.  Their long absence rendered the object more glorious ... 'We will go: We long to be there.  We will hasten our pace.  We will break through all difficulties in the way'."

For the phrase "Let Thy saints shout for joy", Spurgeon remarks: "The sentence, while it may be read as a permit, is also a precept: saints are commanded to rejoice in the Lord."

Spurgeon also summarizes this psalm in three points, which I found very helpful since as I read through it I had trouble following all that was being said here.

1) This psalm contains a statement of David's anxious care to build a house for the Lord (verses 1-7)
2) The psalm contains a prayer concerning the removal of the Ark of the Covenant (verses 8-10)
3) The psalm contains a pleading of the divine covenant and its promises (verses 11-18)

A= Spurgeon comments: "A joyful song indeed: Let all pilgrims to the New Jerusalem sing it often."

So that means me!  Along with all other believers, I'm "a pilgrim to the New Jerusalem".  Our former pastor often reminded us that we were all on "a pilgrimage from here to glory".  And it's so true!

And I'm to worship the Lord cheerfully and joyfully.  I like the quote from Farindon concerning how eager the pilgrims were to reach the place of worship they had missed so much.  How we should praise God for the blessing and privilege to worship with other believers.  And we should never take it for granted, but appreciate every single opportunity we have to do so.

P= "Lord, once again I am so thankful for Your Word.  There is so much in this psalm that I hadn't seen before in my quick readings of it.  I thank and praise You that You are an unchanging, promise-keeping God.  You will keep all of Your promises and You will accomplish all of Your purposes.

"I thank and praise You for the blessing of worship and fellowship with Your people in Your house.  Help me never to take this privilege for granted, but to take advantage of every opportunity to be in church and to be a cheerful, joyful worshiper.  I thank You in Jesus' name, Amen."

Now, for the reflection question:

It was pointed out that David endured many hardships as he sought to follow God -- and God had promised that He would establish David's throne forever.  We know that promise was fulfilled through Jesus, the Messiah.

In light of that, here's the reflection question: How does knowing that we have a God who keeps all of His promises, from Genesis to Revelation, build your faith and joy?

My answer: It definitely builds my faith.  Of course I do realize that the old hymn "Every Promise in the Book is Mine" is not really true.  As we "rightly divide" God's Word, we understand that every promise in the Book is not for believers.  Some promises were made to specific individuals, others specifically to Israel.  Still, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of promises in the Bible that I can cling to and rest upon.  

Verse 11 reminds us, "The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David: He will not turn from it."

And He will be equally faithful to keep His promises to us.

Spurgeon comments: "Our confidence: 'He will not turn from it.'  He is not a changing God ... He is able to carry out His purpose.  His honor is bound up in it.  His oath can never be broken."

This encourages me so much today!  I hope it was a blessing to others as well.

Taking a break for the Hodgepodge

 

  So it's Wednesday again, so 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's Hodgepodge questions have a fun "spring break" theme.   Here goes:

1. We're in to a season students call 'spring break'. Did you/your family travel over spring breaks when you were growing up?  Tell us something about a 'spring break' you remember (from childhood or adulthood, either one). 

As I remember, many of our spring breaks from school were spent in the production of maple syrup.   And as very little kids, we also spent a lot of time in the sugarbush or my grandparents' sugarhouse.

You can read ALL of my maple memories here.

2. Last thing you broke? Was it a big deal? 

A tooth, and it's turning into a very big expensive deal as a crown is going to be the solution.  As my dad always said ...

3. March 7th is National Cereal Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite? If not cereal what's your favorite breakfast? Your typical breakfast? 

Not a fan of cereal in general because it really is best with milk and I don't care for milk.  Also trying to eat far fewer carbs, so that lets cereal out.  If I could be said to have a favorite cereal it would probably be homemade granola.  

My favorite breakfast would likely involve sausage and eggs in some form.  At a favorite breakfast spot I usually order the All Country, which involves sausage, sausage gravy, biscuits, eggs, and a breakfast side (I most often choose the cinnamon apples).

With intermittent fasting, our breakfast is more likely to be lunch. 

Just for fun though, a vintage Kellogg's cereal advertisement from my collection!

4. Break ground, break of dawn, break down, break the bank, break one's stride, break the ice, break a law, break a habit, break bread...choose one of the idioms listed and tell us how it applies to your life currently.

Hmmm ... the broken tooth isn't going to completely break the bank, but it won't be cheap.  And I'm going to need a second crown for a cracked front tooth, later on.  That one was going to be first until this one happened.

This jolly piggy bank is a 1940s birthday card available in my Etsy shop.

5. Where do you go to connect with friends and family? What do you like to do most when you're home alone? 

Well, I connect with some friends and family at church.  I connect with some on Instagram.  I connect with some at our house or theirs.   Mr. T and I love it when we can connect with friends and family at our little cottage.

While home alone, I guess that depends on the time of day.  If daylight hours, probably I'd prefer either getting caught up on some household task, or working on a sewing project.

In the evening, I might spend time on a cross-stitch or other needlework project, or maybe do some blogging.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Last night I adapted a "burger bowl" recipe I'd seen on Instagram -- burgers, salad greens, roasted cubed sweet potatoes, onions and a special sauce.  I had to leave out the cherry tomatoes and the dill pickle slices because we didn't have any.  What a wonderful meal!  So many great flavors that all mingled so well.  I think some variation of this may become a weekly meal for us.

That's the Hodgepodge for this week, friends!

Sunday Scripture

 

Sunday again, and time for a Scripture post.  Recall, I'm going back to The Book of Psalms One Chapter a Day study from Good Morning Girls.  In Summer 2020 I started this study but had never completed it, so I've decided to go back and finish it up.  This particular book only covers Psalms 101-150, and I had previously completed Psalms 101- 129, so I have a few more to go.  I have purchased another journal covering Psalms 51-100 and will plan to go through that after I finish this one.  

With this study, as I have often done, I used the SOAP method of Bible study.  Just a quick reminder that the S is for Scripture, O is for Observation, A is for Application and P is for Prayer.

Also, there is a reflection question for each psalm.  I don't always answer it, but when I do it will usually follow the SOAP portion of my study.

The Psalm for today is Psalm 131.  Just three verses!

S= "LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
"Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, like a child that is weaned of his mother; my soul is even like a weaned child.
"Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and forever."  (Psalm 131)

Since this psalm is so short, I decided to look at verses 1-2 in the ESV as well:

"O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
"But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me."

The verse to zero in on was verse 2, but I chose to look closely at both 1 and 2.

O=  Psalm 131 is one of the fifteen "Songs of Ascents" which include Psalms 120-134.  Most scholars believe that these particular songs were either sung by worshipers from all over Israel as they made their way "up to Jerusalem"  for the great festivals, OR that they were sung by pilgrims on the ascending march from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem.  In The Treasury of David, Spurgeon quotes T. Le Blanc, who favors the latter view and thinks "this is a song of the Israelites who returned from Babylon with humbled hearts, weaned from their idols."

C.I. Scofield has titled this psalm "Growing in grace".    

We see that David tells the Lord here:

* My heart is not haughty;
* My eyes are not lofty;
* I don't exercise myself in great matters or in things too high for me;
* I have behaved and quieted myself;
* My soul is like a weaned child.

In my Scofield study Bible, there were no cross-references for either of these verses, for some reason.  But my ESV Bible listed a number of them, so I looked them up in the KJV for additional clarification.

For the phrase "lifted up" there were two cross-references:

"For thus saith the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones."  (Isaiah 57:15)

"Though the LORD be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, but the proud He knoweth afar off."  (Psalm 138:6)

For the phrase "raised too high" there are two cross-references:

"Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I tolerate." (Psalm 101:5)

"And seekest thou great things for thyself?  Seek them not."  (Jeremiah 45:5)

For the phrase "occupy myself":

"Be of the same mind one toward another.  Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.  Be not wise in your own conceits." (Romans 12:16)

For the phrase "too marvelous for me":

"Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not: things too wonderful for me, which I knew not." (Job 42:3)

And for the phrase "child with his mother":

"Brethren, be not children in understanding; however, in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men."  (1 Corinthians 14:20)

A= To me the phrases "my heart is not lofty, nor mine eyes haughty" speak of humility.  We know that God blesses those who exhibit a humble and contrite spirit.  He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  

God also does not want us to meddle with things too great and marvelous for us -- things that are beyond our understanding, areas in which He works as He sees fit.  Instead He would have us calm and quiet ourselves in His presence, resting in His sovereignty and His infinite wisdom.  In one of Elizabeth George's books, she notes that we can take all of the unexplainable things of life and simply file them in between God's wisdom and His knowledge:

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

Spurgeon notes: "The Psalmist ... had smoothed down the roughness of his self-will; by holy effort he had mastered his own spirit .... It is no easy thing to quiet yourself; sooner may a man calm the sea, or rule the world, or tame a tiger, than quiet himself."

P= "Lord, how very thankful I am for Your Word and even for this little psalm which I have read many times, but which has layers of meaning I had not thought about before.  Help me to be your humble, obedient servant in the responsibilities You've given me in this life -- and help me to rest in Your sovereignty and wisdom concerning all that I don't understand.  Help my calmness and quietness in the storms of life to be a testimony that points others to you.  I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen."

The reflection question for this psalm asks: Are you enjoying your walk with God?  How can you become calmer and quieter in His presence?

My answer:  I am very much enjoying my walk with God.  I'm so thankful for the close walk with Him that He has led me into.  Yet I know that I could become calmer and quieter in His presence by getting to know Him even better and learning to trust Him more.  We get to know God through His Word and through communicating with Him in prayer.  I love the fact that learning more and more about God and His dealings with people and situations is something available to us, something we can apply to every need and concern that we have in this life!

That's our Sunday Scripture for this week.  I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Some goals for March

 

 Time certainly continues to fly!  Yes, February is always a short month, but it seemed to fly by even more quickly than usual.  It's March already, and time to set a few goals:

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week
* Continue working through the "Make Room Challenge" from Make Room for What You Love
* Post in this blog as often as possible -- hopefully several times per week
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible
* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones
* Celebrate several family birthdays
* Craft some homemade Christmas gifts and decorations (yes, even now!)
* Do some sewing projects ( a few more sachets to stave off musty odors, plus maybe curtains) for the cottage
* Finish 2 pillow quilts for youngest granddaughters
* Spend a little time on some UFO craft projects
* Continue decluttering the entire house, zone by zone
* With my hubby, set some goals for 2023
* Plan a winter getaway with my hubby
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items
* Spend some time on my trust responsibilities
* Spend some time volunteering at The Wilds of New England
* Do some solid planning for meals for the above opportunity
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating
* Memorize ten Bible verses and review ten older ones
* Begin study for a devotional to share at a ladies' brunch in May
* Get back into our study of the book of Daniel with younger believers
* Continue to help a widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* 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 

And there are my simple goals for this month.  How about you?  Any goals to share?

Marching into the hodgepodge

 

 It's Wednesday again, so 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.  In this week's Hodgepodge questions we welcome March and sum up February.   Here goes:

1. Hello March! Is it coming in like a lion where you live? How do you feel when it rains? 

Well, I'm writing this on Tuesday (and it's snowing hard as I write), so I can only share the forecast for March 1 and let readers be the judge:

In spite of decently warm temperatures, I guess I'd classify this as more lion-like than lamb-like.  More snow in the offing for the rest of the week, too.

As for how I feel when it rains, at this time of year I always hope it's not freezing rain.  That complicates driving.

2. What's something you'd like to do differently this week than the last? Explain. 

 

Follow my plan for the day a bit more closely.   I know that I seem to get more done if I do household tasks in the morning or early afternoon.  Computer tasks are absorbing and I like to do them in the hour or so before lunch, because intermittent fasting.  I begin to get more hungry at that point and if I'm doing something that absorbs my interest, it helps a lot.  Also, my plan often involves some type of crafting in the later afternoon but I so often ignore that.  I would get a lot more accomplished if I stuck with my plan.

3. March 1st is National Sunkist Citrus Day...do you drink orange juice? Orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, grapefruit...what's your favorite citrus fruit? A dish you love with a citrus fruit as one of its key ingredients? 

 

I don't drink orange juice.   Of the citrus fruits, my favorite might be grapefruit.  A dish I love with citrus as a key ingredient would probably be lemon meringue pie or lemon-filled shortbread cookies.  

 

Or maybe the lemon ice cream at our favorite local ice cream place.

 

Love this Sunkist cookbook from my collection:

4. What do you consider to be your culture. Elaborate. 

 

Hmmm.  Not sure about this question.   Looking up the definition of culture did not help me much.  

 

I know that families can be said to have their own culture, and I guess that might fit with the part of the definition that includes a modifier.  So one could say something like "family culture: the attitudes and behavior characteristic of a particular family."  Even that I don't feel that I can comment on, because it isn't something one can generalize about every member of a family -- or every member of any social group, either.

I might say I consider my culture to be kombucha.  That is the main cultured food I have produced in my kitchen.  For me, I guess that's a better answer.

5. Sum up your February in fifteen words or less. 

 

 A happy, busy month with several nights warm enough to stay at our little camp.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Let's see.  From the kitchen I hear my hubby washing dishes.  He handles intermittent fasting quite a bit differently than I do.  He also needs an absorbing task to keep him busy in the last hour or so before lunch, but for him that absorbing task could be cooking or baking -- whereas it's best for me not to go near the kitchen.  He just made the umpteenth batch of Heavenly Delight 

 

and I believe he also mixed up the dough for Whipped Shortbread.  We have two occasions coming up for which we are going to need dozens of cookies.  It's a snow day here and he's getting started!

And that's the Hodgepodge for this week!