Did you ever see one of those bumper stickers?  I always laughed when I saw one of those!  They have been around for-EVER!  Now, I really like the "Help Stop Global Warming" stickers too.....maybe if we all just lowered our body temperatures by a few degrees we could save the polar ice caps!  It's worth a try, right????  Eat more ice cubes!  Buy a hybrid car!

Aww Gee....well, lets see, I was going to tell you that my husband found this really cool cookbook rack that goes under the upper cabinets in the kitchen, and it is hinged so it swings down and is REALLY handy!  It holds your cookbook just perfectly.  A friend of mine had one and I thought it was really neat!  We bought it at the little thrift store near us.  A true-blue bargain! 

So He asked me where I wanted him to put it, on the left side or the right side of the stove.....so I said, "Just a second, Honey," and I put my hands up to my forehead as if in deep thought and I said "Visualize Cooking, Visualize Cooking...." and to that he just laughed at me and said "Nice try!  You can't visualize something you don't do!"

Sigh.  It's on the right side of the stove.

Thanks Honey!  We already used it!  Dearest youngest daughter made cornbread from a recipe out of the "Boxcar Children Cook Book" two days in a row! It is a very handy, thrifty device!

"Visualize Homeschooling!"

Nancy

Not THAT Anniversary, silly.  My Blog Anniversary! 

 I guess it was so memorable it slipped my mind.  It was a whole year on May something.  Better go look it up.  Here it is: May 19th. My very first blog.  I am so sentimental!

And then, the other non-important thing is that we picked cherries again this year.  Remember last years story?  This one.  Well, we picked not one tree full, but 3 this year.  Our neighbors behind us have two huge trees that they don't harvest, and so we did.  Here is what came of it:

Now, right after I posted this I thought "hmm....wouldn't it have been neat if I spelled out HI or something with those jars?"  But I am too lazy to do it all over again.  Plus, I am not sure I could spell it.  I r homeskuled, ya know.  LOL.  It's late, sorry for the silliness.  I don't know what has come over me.

ANyway.....That is 26 pints of sour~cherry jam!  Plus we have about 6 pints of syrup.  (You know, that happy accidental kind of syrup.)

And I wish I could brag about how I did all this by myself, but while the kids and I were attending a senior violin recital/homeschool graduation (which was fabulous!) my sweet wonderful East Texas husband was canning jam. 

I am married to the best man in the whole wide world. 

Homeschooling is Life!

Nancy

I just read the nicest little list over here about some simple things you can do to make things go ever so smoothly in the kitchen!  If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT known for my cooking skills, although my kids assure me that I make the best macaroni and cheese from a box in the entire world!

(Now that you are very sad for me, don't worry, since we are going organic, or attempting to eat "better" food, good old mac'n cheese days are bygone days.)

I was just checking out recent posts, and found the one I am linking you to---and what I liked about it was this:  It is simple!  Simple things to follow, that create ease, and beauty in the kitchen.  My kind of stuff!  Go check out her list, and be blessed!

My house-sitter once called while we were away and said, "Can I use the pretty dishes that are in the regular cupboard?  Or are they off limits?"  You see, I used to collect floral patterns that I found at garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and have a pretty nice little bunch of them.  But what good are they if they just sit there and collect dust?  Use those pretty plates, use those lovely linen table cloths, grow some flowers for bouquets to grace your table, AND all around the house. 

We do a lot of homeschooling in the kitchen.  What does that mean?  Well, my kids cook!  Today, 7 yo. son made breakfast burritos, and 9 yo daughter made snickerdoodles!  All by themselves.  Last night 11 yo son made baking powder biscuits to go with the roast I put in the oven.  You see, since I don't like to cook that much, and my husband usually is too tired to cook dinner after a hard days work, (I know, he's not supposed to cook, I am.  But he is an excellent cook, and does help a lot here.  He is invaluable to me.)  Anyway, as I was saying, I am working my way out of a job here.  My kids will all be able to cook dinner, clean up AND make it pleasing to look at ---it's all part of teaching them about giving to others, and doing it with grace and beauty as part of the ingredients. 

So now that I said I like simplicity, and this blog has gone on for too long......go read this lovely lady's post.  And tell her I sent you!

Nancy

p.s., so you don't like to do dishes either?  My dear friend Mary always told me "you don't have to keep your mind on the dishwater."  Now, you tell me what that means to you, and I will post on it later.

Homeschooling is Life!

OK, since I just bought a new crockpot ($2.00--yard sale) I need to try it out.  My old one only knows how to make yucky stuff :)

I am going to sear a pork roast, toss it in there with some whole garlic, and some rotel tomatoes, the hot kind.  THEN it will cook nicely all day.  I MAY add some spices, just a little bit of S&P and maybe some beef bouillon, or however you spell that.  Try to imagine that there is no MSG in it, ok? Oh, and feel free to add onions.

If you like hot green chile, just add some jalapenos finely chopped, with the juice, and let it cook ALL day. (Once I dumped most of a jar of them in, and BOY was it HOT!  My kids loved it.  I had to run for a glass of ice water---it literally took my breath away, and I like hot food.  Being from Arizona can cause that.)

 Then you can add, if you want to, some o'brien potatoes, but you can also just chop some little potato cubes and add them later today.  Make burrito's out of this, or just eat as is, but if you want to make a burrito out of it, don't forget to shred it because a whole pork roast won't fit into the tortilla very nicely---and it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the family.

I suppose you could make a nice salad with avocado.....just have the kids do it!  They LOVE to chop up veggies, shred lettuce and do most anything that involves knives.

Happy Eating!

Nancy

Actually, I think Cherrie's Jubilee involves flammable liquid, but in any case......

There was a knock on my door today and there stood a neighbor from two houses up.  Their sour cherry tree is ready to pick, but they are too busy and would my kids like to come up?  They can pick all of them.  Wow!

So of course, my kids had to don their overalls and cowboy hats, and armed with plastic easter buckets and baskets......we went and stripped the beautiful tree of every cherry we could find.  SO, now the question is:

Anybody out there have any great recipes for me?  You know I am not the cook of the house!

OK, ok, I know it isn't Frugal Friday yet, but I am not sure how long these little guys will last......and I don't have a cherry pitter....do I need one?  A little help from my friends?

Nancy

Well this has been an informative night!  I cook ONE time in a crock pot and am branded.  Why is it that crock pot cooking brings out the best and the worst in homeschool Mom's?  I have been very careful about not bringing up TOO controversial of subjects on this blog (yeah, so far) but this crock pot stuff takes the cake!

Sigh. 

And then there is this friends thing.  I LIKED all the blogs that I added to my friends list.  I don't know most of these fine people but I am SO glad I met them here in cyberland.  So now I am told that this is taboo.  Well, how do I delete some of them without them feeling rejected?  I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!  I suppose I could delete HWA's blog.  She's too busy doing things like autopsies and stuff to write blogs with us.  Yup, I will start there.....

Well.....maybe not.

Or maybe TOSPUB?

She started this whole kitchen kaboodle anyway.......

Just don't ask me what I am cooking for dinner tomorrow night, and I will be JUST fine.

Nancy