Favorite Things: Homemade Cookbooks

I love handmade books. For me, they are much more than recordings  of stories, thoughts, or recipes. They are full of the love and dedication that was put into producing them. I came across these two beauties (circa late 1970's) at the Friends of the Galion Public Library's used book sale.

 

 

The darling hand-painted covers drew me right in. On closer inspection, I discovered that the covers were made by Connie Eichhorn, a full-time country woman who lived on a grain farm, had an in-home ceramic studio, and helped her husband run a saw mill business. 

 

*WHEW* That makes me tired just typing it!  

 

Connie had many talents, not only as a visual artist, but also musically. She was the Jr. Choir director at our church, teaching very young children to sing. My children were all in Connie's choir and my daughter, Meghan, went on to become a music teacher.

 

 

Connie was a member of a hospital "Twig", volunteer organizations that worked on fundraisers for the hospital as well as donating their labor in places like manning the hospital's front desk or working in the gift shop and cafeteria. My guess is that Connie and her Twig members made these books as one of their fundraisers. 

What is extra special about these books is that they are extremely low-tech by today's standards.

 

Can you imagine the time that these women put into producing their books? The covers appear to be coated wallpaper. I can picture Connie drawing and painting each one by hand.

 

 

And then, there was the "inside jobs".

 

 

 

 Each page was typed on old-fashioned ribbon typewriters on a special two-part carbon paper. The carbon part fit on a machine called a mimeograph to make copies.

 

mimeograph machine

Then, each page was cut and put in order and stapled to the covers. 

 

 

This post is dedicated to those who volunteer to make our communities better places to live, like Connie. Connie is in ill health these days. By sharing her talents as an artist and musician, her legacy keeps her in the hearts of those she touched.

 

Marcheta *touched by an angel

 



'Tis the Season....for SQUASH!

Noel is back with us today, sharing her methods for cooking butternut squash. Butternut and acorn squash, as well as pumpkin, are among my favorite cold weather foods.



Butternut squash is quite possibly the most popular variety of winter squash, and for good reason. As its name suggests, this veggie is buttery and sweet. And, even better, it’s a nutrient powerhouse thanks to its high fiber and vitamin content, and its low calorie count.

Before you read Noel's post, here's my little trick....I add pureed pumpkin to many recipes, especially soups (even chili). The mild flavor does not alter the recipe's overall taste while packing in a good punch of extra nutrition. I also add pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling!) to casseroles and even meat loaf/meat balls. :)

I am glad that Noel chose butternut squash to share today, as I have two nice ones from the last farmers' market ready to be cooked and served. Although I never met a potato that I didn't love, I am looking forward to some orange eating today. :)

Marcheta *Orange is the New Spud (well, not really....)




Noel Lizotte, Apron Free Cooking

My grandfather was a tremendous gardener. He was typical old time New England, in that he wanted to be as self sufficient as possible. Therefore, his garden took on near epic proportions as the years passed.




I remember walking through his garden and being amazed at the many types of squash growing in the Vermont soil. Acorn, Butternut, and Hubbard are just a few of the names I remember.
These “winter squash” are so named because they ripen in the late summer and fall, then can be stored “down cellar” through much of the winter. My grandparents cellar was a place of wonder, full of bushel baskets of squash, quarts jars of canned vegetables and garden tools waiting for spring.



Thanksgiving dinner with my family usually features squash of some sort. As our proper New England heritage dictates, we drizzle a bit of maple syrup over our serving.
The crock pot method of preparing squash makes it easy to add to the Thanksgiving dinner without taking up valuable oven space.
For serving, you can place the squash, skin and all on a serving platter and allow guests to scoop their portion directly from the skin. Or you can scoop the squash from the skin and place in a serving bowl. Either presentation is pretty, especially when you use Grandma’s dishes!
 
 
 

Print

Butternut Squash

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 63

Fat per serving: 0

Ingredients

• 1 Butternut Squash
• 2 TB Cinnamon
• 2 TB Brown Sugar
• 2 TB Butter

Instructions

• Traditional Method
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop the seeds and dispose of them. Sprinkle 1 TB each of cinnamon and brown sugar over each half of the squash. Place 1 TB of butter in the hollow of each half. Please in a baking dish and add an inch of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and seal tightly. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. 

 

• Crock Pot Method
• Slice and prepare the squash with spices as in the traditional method. Place in slow cooker or crock pot. You may stack the halves of squash on top of each other if there is only room for one half in the bottom of the crock pot. Carefully add water to the bottom of the crock pot; don't splash onto the squash. Bake on low heat 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours.

Notes

Approximate Nutrition Information: Servings Per Recipe: 8, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 63, Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 6g, Total Carbs: 16g, Protein: 1g.

Make it a Meal: Serve with your Thanksgiving dinner. A great side dish to ham.

Variations: You can use this preparation with any winter squash.

2.6

http://www.apronfreecooking.com/recipes/butternut-squash/

Copyright: www.ApronFreeCooking.com

A Flakey Situation

 

We're finally building a garage.

 

So, naturally, it snowed on the start day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky for the builders, the snow was not too aggressive until later, when the sun had gone down and outside work was done for the day.

I am so impressed with our contractor, Tom Clevenger, and his crew. Even though it is only 27F today, they are back on the job.


I don't even know how to act this winter, being able to keep our vehicles out of the weather and not have to scrape off windshields as we've been doing the past 20+ years. :)


The top photo shows the location of the garage, a bigger-than-most building because Jim wants to be able to park his plow truck in it with plow and salter attached. Also, there will be a nice sized bonus room in front. This space is for the orchard harvest and also for me to finally have a studio outside of the house.  You can see one of our orchards in the background. Here's the thing: I am happy to have this building, but very sad at the same time because it will block that wonderful view when I step out my back door.

Yes.

I lost the argument of where to locate the building. My idea was in front of the orchard, Jim's was up next to the house.

You can see who has more power around here. :)

But.

I plan to get my way with the interior.  My vision for it is "Happy Fifty's Kitchen". A bright, sunshiny place to work and to have craft parties with my family and friends. Ahhh...I get the warm-fuzzies just thinking of all the possibilities!

Again, I don't know how to act, not having clutter of fruit and craft supplies spewing out of every corner of my house. :)   But I have a feeling that in both instances, I'll adjust just fine.

Just fine!

Marcheta *fine by me

The Great Pretender

Edit: Cindy did complete an email interview with me, but "life" got in my way of getting it posted. I've decided wait unitl next spring to post her words of wisdom because it will be a perfect time to read Cindy's hints for those of you who want to attract Monarchs and other butterflies to your property.



I think that Monarch and Viceroy Butterfly wings look like stained glass windows. This picture was taken at Garlo Heritage Nature Preserve in Seneca County, Ohio. Do you think that it is a Monarch or Viceroy? The two look so much alike that it takes a closer inspection to identify exactly which butterfly one is looking at.

 

 

At first, I thought this was a Monarch. But when I cropped the picture to prepare it for this blog post, my brain cells got all fussed up.

Something looked different....maybe. I looked at the picture of a Monarch in my last post and, yep, the wing pattern was a teeny-tiny bit different.

Then I wondered...which is which? I needed help in thinking this out and donned my Sherlock hat. A quick Internet search helped me to decide that my first picture is correct; it is a Monarch. And the beauty pictured above is a Viceroy.

I am not going to explain the differences; if you are interested, your assignment is research. To help, this webpage is excellent.  

If you are a more casual lover of butterflies, I am sure that you'll agree with me that both have beautiful wings, fit for any cathedral :)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Cindy, our Monarch enthusiast, informs that last week was prime migration time for Monarchs in our area. She reports seeing at least a dozen flitting around one day. I have also seen many of the orange beauties. I did not get any pictures because they had the petal to the metal. Who knew that butterflies could fly so fast? They have a long way to go, so I can't blame them for not taking long lay-overs here in Ohio.

Cindy is working on a guest blog post for OCJ, where she will share her adventure trip to Mexico, where she was dazzled by the sheer amount of orangeness.

For now, Cindy says, " Last I checked, I have had 4 or 5 tags recovered! They do go to Mex from here! Wish I could join them."

Marcheta * "You know my methods, Watson"

Regal Attire



All Dressed up With Somewhere to Go.
 I found this Monarch Butterfly fueling up
for its long flight to Mexico at Amann
Reservoir in Galion, Ohio.



My original plan for Ohio Country Journal was to record a country year, not only my experiences, but also to profile the lives of the amazing women who have chosen to make their own careers by working in the country. I feel that I did a pretty good job of giving readers a glimpse into the country life, whether it be by describing work, talents, or by sharing recipes, and was satisfied to stop posting.

However, my mind has changed (I am a woman after all *smiles*) because of requests to fire up the blog again. So here it is; a new post. I am starting the new season of blogging on a regal note by yammering about Monarch Butterflies.

Sure, they are pretty. Pretty amazing, that is. I became aware of just how amazing these beauties are when I worked with Cindy Eusey at Lowe-Volk Park Nature Center in Leesville, Ohio.


Since retiring from teaching, Cindy has joined the ranks of full-time country women and was known for a while as the Llama Lady. Ever the teacher, Cindy was also the environmental educator at the nature center, where one of the Monarch Butterflies that she tagged during a program for school children was discovered in Mexico.

Stay tuned to this blog to learn just why Monarch Butterflies are dear to Cindy's heart by reading her story about traveling to Monarch migration grounds in Mexico (teaser...she had to ride a mule for part of the journey!).

Marcheta *float like a butterfly...oops, that's Mohamed Ali's tag line (shhhh...don't tell that I borrowed it)

Bright Sunshiny Day

 

 

 

Don't let the sun fool you...even though it is white-hot, it only warmed the atmosphere to 5 degrees f this morning.

 

I loved the long shadows the cold Old Sol cast from nursery and orchard trees, and decided to test the scene with four different cameras. If you are interested in the details, you can read about them and see the other pictures on my World According to Marcheta  photography blog. http://marchetagibson.blogspot.com/2014/01/confessions-of-camera-junkie.html

 

The sky is such a brilliant blue today that the song Bright Sunshiny Day by Jimmy Cliff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OITxdCJg2Y has found its way into my heart.

 

 

Graphic details, such as the spiny shadows of bare-naked tree and eyepopping contrasts, like the deep blue sky and snowy earth, are a few elements that make country scenes seem extra special. On days like today, when the two aspects show up at the same time, well..what could be better?

 

Marcheta *happy happy sunshiny

First Adventure of 2014

http://marchetagibson.blogspot.com/2014/01/where-eagles-dare.html

The Year of Adventure got a great start! Yesterday we went to Mohican State Forest to see the Bald Eagles. You can read about it on my World According to Marcheta Blog, the link is above :)

Marcheta *and so it begins....

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I think of this first day in our brand new year as a garden bed that is ready to be seeded with new ideas and goals. The milkweed in this picture has tossed its seeds to the wind, where they will land in many places and take root. Some seeds may stay closer to home, near the mother plant. Either way, whether our ideas nurture our immediate surroundings or reach out into the larger world, our impact will shape the days to come.


Exciting, huh?

Marcheta *how does your garden grow?