Homemaking

Connie's Kitchen

 

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. September 19, 2007.}

 

Dear Mothers, 

 The Fall it seems is the time the Lord always calls so many of us back to the usual comfort foods that we have a lot of the year..Whenever I think of my family I think of how I started many comfort meals with a pound of hamburger. . Even if we were having company the meat portion remained the same..a pound of hamburger. . . I could be generous with the potatoes and beans or corn etc but the meat was a small amount. . I would make a lot of biscuits and gravy and vegetable soup with hamburger . . One favorite meal I made with wieners was this. . I would get out my big cast iron skillet and fry a pound of hot dogs. . You could fry onions and peppers in too. . the wieners, whole not cut up, and the onions in rounds. . Then when the meat was brown I would pour about 3 cans of pork and beans over this, drained. Then stir in about a fourth cup of brown sugar and a fourth cup of ketchup and a squirt of mustard. And lots of Black Pepper for Papa. . and salt. . Then bake this in the oven for about a half hour at medium heat. . 

Ya know, left over baked beans is good in sandwiches. . Back in the Depression Era? Meat was sometimes hard to come by unless your husband was a hunter. . So since beans had protein like meat the housewives used a lot of beans for meals. . I once read of a Depression era sandwich that I tried and love it to this day. . I eat it often. . You take some bread and spread some mayo on it and the left over baked beans. . You put a slice of onion on it and some lettuce and a slice of tomato. . This is my favorite sandwich. . But during the summers on the farm many families had all the vegetables and fruits they could eat. . So this was a wonderful Depression era summer lunch..

Wild man used to eat radish sandwiches with butter on them or salad dressing.  . He didn't like mayonnaise. . I liked it but never got any until after the kids were raised and left home. . For years I never got to drink instant tea unless we went some place as I couldn't afford it when the kids were home. .To belt out 3 bucks or so then for a jar of instant tea was out of the question.. I mean once in a while if we had extra money I got some instant tea but that wasn't often. . I made a lot of sun tea in those days..

I made sure, as the Depression era mothers did, to always splurge on Papa's coffee.  He didn't ask for a lot but I wanted to always run ahead of him and get him a name brand coffee to please him.. He deserved it and it took a lot out of him to work for all of us..So I tried to always have hot brewed coffee for him each morning before he went to work. Or on cold evenings if he was home late he knew Mama and the coffee would be warm at home waiting for him. . .

Most of my life I am waiting for Papa. . And now I am waiting to see him in heaven.  "I love you Papa if you are reading this. . . I am tryin to honor your memory and be an example to the kids." 

Love Connie

 

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints."  It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

 

 

An Old Fashioned Family



{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. February 16, 2012.}




Dear Mothers,

I was the first-born in my family, and then I had 2 younger brothers. . . Dad fought in W.W.2.. .. and I was a Baby Boomer. 

But then Jim was born into an old fashioned family. . . He was the 12th child out of 13 children. My Mother was a modern Millie. Dad was an up- to- date guy.  But as a child I loved the old fashioned ways.

Jim was born into a well established old timey family. He loved just plain, black coffee ...and drank it with his meals sometimes. He would take my homemade bread, after it got hard, and he would then crumble it up in a bowl...put sugar on it, and milk, and eat it like cereal. . . He loved radish sandwiches. . The Old timers would make anything into a sandwich.  Jim would eat cucumber sandwiches too.  

As a boy he would work for some of the farmers in their town. . . He would spend all day topping onions. . . So he hated onions..  When we first married, Jim asked me to make bread pudding. . . I had no idea how to do that. . . I had never heard of such a thing. But I learned how and made many pans of  bread pudding.

Jim also loved hamburger gravy.   He loved anything with gravy.  Creamed Eggs was another meal he asked me to make. . . As a young wife I had sure never heard of that. . . All you do is hard-boil some eggs and chop up the eggs in a white gravy. .We would eat this on biscuits or just plain buttered toast. . . Our Mary loves creamed eggs too. . . Sometimes, if I had cheese, I would add some cheese to the white  gravy. . . Sometimes if I ran out of meat we would have fried potatoes and fried eggs for a late supper.

The old timers didn't eat a lot of snacks between meals either. . . Jim loved homemade cakes and pies and peanut butter cookies. . . But he didn't really want a lot of  store bought desserts. . 

In the summer, we loved our garden. We ate fresh tomatoes along with every meal, even for breakfast.  Jim loved plain tomato sandwiches too. . 

Love Connie

 PS Another thing Jim's mom made for her family, that I have never made, was fried bananas. . I think you just fry them in a skillet in butter. . and then put powdered sugar on them when they are done cooking.

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

Easter Preparations



{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. April, 2014.}


Part 1  (Easter Preparations) (April 12, 2014)

Dear Mothers, 

I am up in the night writing. . . Aunt Tootsie came early afternoon yesterday to help me with some Easter preparations....We had a good time..Then we had a pizza delivered for supper. . 

I had made a Pumpkin Cake too. .This is how I made it. . I used a yellow cake mix, 2 eggs and a can of pumpkin, and a cup of raisins. . I just put the canned pumpkin in a bowl and added the 2 eggs and I beat this up with a spoon. .Then I added the dry cake mix to the eggs and pumpkin and I stirred this good.  . last of all I added the cup of raisins. . Also for spices, I added Pumpkin Spice and extra cinnamon. . . Just stir this up really good ..Then pour this cake mixture into a big oiled baking pan...and bake at 350 degrees until it is done.. about a half hour...To see if the cake is done, I just stick a paring knife in it..or a tooth pick ...if the knife comes out clean, then it is done..

Anyway Mary's family is coming for Easter and David's family. . Then some family friends too. .We will have a ham and mashed potatoes. . My 2 brothers will come with their families. . Everyone brings food to go along with the ham dinner. . 

We always have a good time. . Hopefully we will have a sunny warm day. What are you all having for Easter? 

Mothers, just walk by faith. . No one's family is perfect . . Just cook up a nice dinner for Easter. . If your husband is gone, just make your dinner as if he will come in the door any minute.  . Don't be sad. . its Easter. . Jesus was raised from the dead. . Nothing is impossible with God !!! Love Connie

 Praise God. . Jesus is Alive !!!


Part 2  (Psalm 91: Under the Shadow of His Wings.) (April 17, 2014)

Dear Mothers, 

Yesterday I was going into the store and something strange happened.  . . First I have to say I was soooooo tired ...I had gone to the Dollar Store and now needed to get some groceries for Easter. . 

But on the way into Aldies, I thought I saw a big eagle or something fly over. . I could see the shadow of his wings on the pavement. . But I couldn't see any bird anywhere. . 

Aunt Toot, after hearing my story, said "Connie maybe it was an angel.." Jill said, after I told her,"You were under the shadow of His wings.." The scripture that I thought of was, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. . They shall mount up on wings as the eagle. . They shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint.


Part 3  (A Lovely Easter) (April 21, 2014)

This morning I am sitting here wondering how on earth I did what I did yesterday with Easter dinner. . When everyone got here I had most things done.  Usually I need a lot of HELP !!

"Tiffany" my sweet girl.  . David's wife said, "Well Connie, last year when we came you didn't even have the ham in the oven yet". . I had forgotten that.  . I have come a long ways since last Easter. . And the Easter before that, my brother had Easter at his house. . 

For you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Parkinsons. . But I am fighting it and believing God for a HEALING in Jesus name. . 

Tiff brought the mashed potatoes and the green bean casserole. . . and dinner rolls. . I bought an apple pie and I made Easter cupcakes for dessert. . My brothers brought deviled eggs and a relish plate. . . and I baked the ham. . When the ham was done, I had my brother Kirk slice the ham up and I made ham gravy. . . it was too salty. . Next time I will use less broth and more milk to make the gravy. 

But I am super grateful to the Lord for helping me and giving me a supernatural strength. . Jesus is our healer. . . He sure healed my marriage and he can heal all of us ..No matter what it is. . .

Love Connie

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Menus for the Week

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters. May 2012.}


Dear Home Keepers,

On our response group Canaan suggested that we all make out menus for the week.  . I think it is a good idea. . . I used to do this when the family was home. . Anyway hopefully we can all get some good ideas from each other for meals. .

This is how I used to do it . . . On one piece of paper I would write out my menus.. Then on the other paper I would write down the grocery items I would need to make the family meals. .

If Jim was working and got off work in the evening, then I would have the family meal around 5:00. . And if he was working a 2nd shift, I would have a family meal before he went to work in the afternoon. . .

Then we just had simple breakfasts, they varied.  I made barrels of pancakes. . and fried eggs. . Sometimes we had oatmeal or just toast and a glass of milk . . The meals we had when Jim was at work were just leftovers or sandwiches. . . Or just popcorn with a vegetable salad. 

I make the regular popcorn in a skillet on the stove. . Not microwave. To make real popcorn, just put about a fourth cup of oil in a skillet on the stove. . Then pour in about a half cup of popcorn. . Put a lid on it and shake it up a little bit to redistribute the popcorn so it won't burn. . Turn the heat on high ...then turn it down a bit when it starts to pop good  . . . it only takes about 10 minutes to make fresh popcorn.  And oh it is so good .  .We liked to eat apples with our popcorn. . and Kool-Aid to drink. I would eat my popcorn with cheese and dill pickles. . Well it is fun to have popcorn for supper. . I usually drank ice tea with my popcorn. 

The popcorn is done when it stops popping in the skillet . . Be sure to have a big bowl handy to put your popcorn in when it is done popping.  . After it is all done just melt some butter and put it on the popcorn and stir it up with salt sprinkled on it. . Sometimes we would put Parmesan cheese on it..  plus the butter. 

You can even buy bulk popcorn at the Dollar Store now. . And to some of you older ladies - Many younger ladies in this generation don't really even know about cooking popcorn on the stove. That's why I am explaining it. . I am not trying to insult anyone's intelligence.


Love Connie

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Living by Faith

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. May, 2013.}

Part 1


I feel my writing is very important ... How could any Christian mother look at our precious country and not be moved to do something to help our America back up. .

We older Mothers are to help the younger moms to stay home . .

We need to be examples to them.  As we encourage the young moms, then we help them to make decent homes for the children.

Feminism is such an unholy spirit . . It slaps the face daily of innocent children. . Nothing hurts like watching your family break up. .My greatest heartache lately is that I haven't been able to write .. But the Lord God is making a way for me where there is no way. .

Ya know lately I have been looking through my MARY JANE'S FARM magazines..T hey have a lot of ideas about old fashioned housekeeping etc..  When Jim was healed he started to work steady. . And hey I knew I had to do some radically different things if I planned on making it. . At first Jim only had minimum wage jobs. .One job he had they expected him to work over time and they paid him half the wage for overtime. .So if he made 4 bucks an hour, and if he worked 2 hrs over, then he only got paid 2 bucks an hour for the over time.  . instead of 6 dollars ... Crazy stuff.. But he had a job..and that was wonderful..

The Word of God says that there is gain in all labor.. If you love the Lord and you are working for His glory then the Lord will reward you for your labor. .I just thought, "Ya know God has given me these children and He expects me to take what I have and buy food for them." The Lord never let us down.. .I always had what I needed to feed my family..

Part 2

I think so often of the Depression era mothers.. But the mothers coming up in our country, when its all said and done. may just outrun the Depression era mothers.   I mean the 1930's presented some very hard times.. Still. .with God all things are possible. . If I had a houseful of children right now and I didn't know how to garden or cook from what I had in the house. . I would be learning how. .

I remember going to the store with about 10 bucks to last for the the rest of the week. . I bought about 3 pounds of hamburger and a big sack of potatoes.. and I think I bought a chicken...and that was it.. But now for you ladies everything has gone up sky high. .and the wage law hasn't gone up as much.. .You all have a lot to believe God for. .Every wise woman builds her house and the foolish tear it down with her hands.

God is with us dear mothers.. No matter how much money we have or how little.. . He is able to help us to make it and care for our children. . . With Health care the way it is in our country, we better keep our eyes on Jesus.. .Our President says we are no longer a Christian nation...That breaks my heart..But each of we moms who ARE Christians can make a difference. .we need to encourage each other.. So often I get emails from mothers who read my testimony. .they say "I never could have made it without your testimony.." it kills me inside .. I feel I am so inadequate.. But I just keep peddling along. .and I hope you girls will keep peddling along too. .we all have something to give and to encourage each other with..

Love Connie

 * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical - all about homemaking and family life. It also tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Down Home Comfort Foods

Connie's Kitchen

 
{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. January 2010.}

In the summer when the fruit is so plentiful, its easy to make some good fruit cobblers with the homemade biscuits on top. . Just cut up the fruit or use berries. .

Add the sugar to taste,  and a little flour. . .

Bake the fruit until it bubbles then add the biscuits to the top. .

Bake until the fruit is bubbly and the biscuits on top are brown. .

I usually put a baking sheet on the rack below the cobbler in case it runs over. . If it runs over and gets burnt, it is surprisingly good like that. Same story with fruit pies.

Oh mercy this story is making me hungry. . Anyway I say all of this to say that if you learn to make good tasty biscuits, you can make a lot of GOOD DOWN HOME COMFORT FOODS.

Another quick dessert is to take your biscuit dough and flatten it with a rolling pin. .

Then put butter on it and cinnamon and brown sugar. . Then roll it up and slice it to make cinnamon rolls. . Bake in a buttered pan. .

Put the rolls close together, and cut them about an inch thick.

Another way to do this would be to put about a half stick of butter in the pan chopped up. . And sprinkle about a cup or so of brown sugar at the bottom. .

Then lay your cut biscuits over this . .When they are done,  flip the pan over on a plate so the gooey butter sugar mix is on top.


Love Connie

 * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical - all about homemaking and family life. It also tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Connie's Kitchen

 

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. January 2010.}

After a chicken dinner, if any chicken or vegetables are left over, just cut up the chicken in bite - sized pieces and put it in a 9 by 13 pan.

 Add some vegetables. . Then cover all of this with gravy or cream of chicken soup . . diluting soup with a bit of water. . keep it thick like gravy.

Bake this in the oven until it bubbles. . Then take this out and drop your homemade biscuits on the top. . 
Crank the oven up to 450 to bake the biscuits.

This makes a hearty meal for a big family with rambunctious boys.

Yesterday I had to shovel as it snowed again. . Also I had to drag my trash to the front of the driveway over chunks of ice, covered in snow. . . Like walking on water?  Frozen water?  It was so slippery. . The cold made me so hungry for biscuits and gravy last evening. . That's what I had for supper . . and potatoes. . It was so good.

One way I used to fix potatoes for our big family was like this:  Just wash the potatoes and leave the skin
on. . .Slice them in half lengthwise and lay them in a baking pan, with oil, cut - side down. . Salt and pepper them and bake them like this in the oven. . We ate these potatoes with ketchup. . I flip these once in the oven so they get done well. . I used to bake these on my cast iron griddle. . I planned to make soup yesterday. . But the biscuits and gravy and potatoes won out.

Love Connie

 * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical - all about homemaking and family life. It also tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Living From Scratch

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters. January 2010.}


Part One

Well I wanted to write in the subject line,"Cooking From Scratch."  But really I want to write about living from scratch. 

I went to a prayer meeting yesterday.  I had a lot of fun with Terry and her husband ..They took me out for lunch after the meeting.  I just loved it.  Terry's new husband Joseph is very spiritual and interesting.  This couple is loving and humble and know what true treasures are.  Anyway they want to buy an acreage and live off the land.  At lunch we talked about how to make cheese etc. .

Back in the old days when we decided to homeschool, it was against the Iowa state law.  So we quit getting any help from the state like food stamps etc..  For me it was like getting hit over the head with a sack of potatoes ..  With food stamps, I had 500 a month to spend on groceries.  Jim could only afford to give me 200 a month out of his paycheck for groceries.  But that was okay with me.  I knew he was being honest about it.  He had to pay the house payment and the other bills.  We had to keep a roof over our heads.

We had 6 children to care for.  Well 5 at home at the time.  Jimmy [the oldest] was in the Navy.  But he came home often ..We all missed him a lot.  I had an idea of how to cook from scratch only, but hadn't done it as a way of life for so many people at one time.  It takes a lot of planning.  You can learn to cook from scratch ..You can learn about herbs and gardening, saving your own heirloom seeds each year to plant in the spring.

 Ya know we women should stay home more.

You can quit going to the Beauty Salon to get your hair died, permed, and frizzed.  You can wear a scarf on your head and forget it.  Scarves on your head make you look mysterious, like you are up to something. Or better yet wear a cowboy hat with your apron.  Just stay home and learn womanly ways.  The old time Mothers got up with the chickens and started biscuits or bread of some kind for the day.  She spent time in the kitchen.  I always got up early too, usually to write.  But when I got up I would always be thinking of feeding my army.

So while I wrote, I was frying a pound of hamburger with onions for an afternoon Hamburger, Vegetable Soup.  I made the soup here and there as I passed the kitchen. . . Writing, thinking, cleaning vegetables as I went about my morning.  It was a way of life. . . I kept the morning quiet ya know.  I didn't vacuum. . just did what I had to do as it was my time to write and pray.

But then about 6:00 in the morning I got the kids up for homeschool.  They showered and helped with chores, and I fed them breakfast.  But then I didn't have much time then to fix a lunch.  I was so busy with the kids and school work all morning.  But that meal made in the wee hours of the morning saved me for the day.

Also I would start my bread early too if I needed to.  If we had to go some place in the morning, we had that meal to come home to.  Otherwise we would have been tempted to buy fast food that we couldn't afford.  And I would be exhausted when we got home after getting up so early in the morning.  So to come home to a big pot of vegetable soup was such a comfort.

And after lunch I always rested.  This was when my children did their reading for book reports.  I rested for a few hours.  Then back to the kitchen to do more cooking.

Part 2

 I loved to see Wildman buy a 50 pound bag of potatoes and haul them over his shoulder at the grocery store.  Or 25 pounds of flour over his shoulder.  Oh what a cowboy I married.  He brought home the bacon and his wife fried it. I worked like a dog keeping up with Wildman and his seeds.

His 4 sons were creative like him, and still are.  Our home was dominated by boys growing into men.  The boys sat at the table and watched Jim heap his creamed peas or corn over his mashed potatoes and gravy, and they ate the same way.  Well not Jimmy as he was too educated to do such a thing.  David always says "Are you sure Jimmy is one of us?"  Jimmy was raised as an only child by primarily a hippy Jesus freak ..that would be me.  My life was a fright and I was afraid to have another child.  But then when Jimmy was 7, I got the Holy Ghost and thought I could do anything.  So I preceded to have 5 more children. . What the heck. .

I had to do a lot of creative thinking to keep my family afloat.  I did a lot of praying, on and off.   As my washers and dryers would break down, I used a wringer washer, and my back yard clothes line.  I used an old garden rake to hold up the middle of the clothes line rope as it sagged.  I didn't have a drain to drain the washer so I drained it into buckets.  Then I had the kids take the buckets out to the garden and water the vegetables.

I loved my 2 wringer washers.  I wasn't wasting water.  I did 3 loads of wash at a time.  Well I could use the same water for a 4th load to do rag rugs.  Anyway you can still buy wringer washers.. I know the Lehman's catalog has them.  Wringer washers save on so much water.  And it's easy to use your used up soapy water for the garden.  The soap in the water keeps the bugs out, especially in a cabbage patch.  And in a drought, the water comes in handy.

Anyway I used my wringer washer to wash all of our clothes.  Also I made my own laundry soap. But I used lye and I guess ya cant get it now at the stores.  Maybe from Lehman's catalog or on the internet.

It was a lot of work to live like we did.  But to me it was a mission or calling.  I believed God had given me my children to train for Him.  I knew I wasn't to go out to work.  So I knew God had a plan for me.  I knew He could teach me how to make it on only 50 bucks a week for everything.  I didn't know how . . .But God showed me in the wee hours of the morning when I would get up to pray.  I was confident that He knew what He was doing. . . I knew I didn't. . . but He showed me.

love Connie

 * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical - all about homemaking and family life. It also tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Mother's Homemade Light and Tasty Biscuits

Connie's Kitchen

 
{From the Archives of Connie's letters. January 2010.}

Good Morning Happy Housewives,


  Here is the recipe and tips for light and tasty biscuits.. I feel that making biscuits is an art.  And it takes practice to get them to turn out like you want them.  But just practice.  And the ones that don't turn out, just throw them out the door to the birds.  I had to throw a lot of my brick biscuits out.  One day we saw a squirrel running down the street with my biscuit in his mouth.  He liked "Mother's Home Made Biscuits."

Ok the recipe for biscuits is on the can of CLABBER GIRL BAKING POWDER, Probably on any
can of baking powder... But that's an awfully small amount of biscuits just using 2 cups of flour. . Ok for a family, use 4 cups of flour. . . Anyway, turn on your oven to 475 first before you do anything else.  Biscuits have to have a hot oven or they won't turn out okay.

Get out a big bowl and put in 4 cups of flour, and 2 Tbs of Baking Powder..Some salt and a lil sugar, a half tsp of both?

Mix this up and add almost a cup of lard or shortening of some kind. . . Now just work the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingers. . Until the mix looks like cornmeal sorta. . Just work all the shortening in to the flour.

Then add a cup and a half of milk.  Stir this up to make a biscuit dough. Like you are playing with play dough.  Add flour to your work surface so it won't stick. . not much flour.  I barely pat my dough together.. Just mix it up good enough so it doesn't stick to your work table.

Then cut out the biscuits with a floured tin can or cookie cutter or just a drinking glass?  Set the cut outs on a greased cookie sheet,  and pop them in your preheated oven and bake about 12 to 15 minutes, or until brown.

Don't use a rolling pin on these biscuits.  Just pat the dough into a mound.  I cut my biscuit dough to be about an inch high.  Or you could just drop the dough on the cookie sheet like cookies..I just always cut mine out.

Love Connie

 * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," - It is autobiographical - all about homemaking and family life. It also tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!*