Sunflowers and Serendipity

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Turkey Tortilla Soup

Every year I make this soup using the leftover Turkey from Thanksgiving. I am not a fan of leftover Turkey, but I love this soup! The recipe comes from the Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church cookbook SOUPS THAT PRESBYTERIANS SERVE. The recipe is one of my parents’ contributions. I remember my mom making this soup. Sunday soup was something my parents did from the time I was a teenager. They were creatures of habit and when they found something they liked, they made it a habit. This year I made the soup using onions and jalapeños from my garden, turkey stock made from our leftover Thanksgiving Turkey, corn that I froze this summer, and of course our Thanksgiving leftover turkey. This soup is perfect for a chilly Midwestern day!

[sunflowersandserendipity]

If you lived in Mt. Vernon, Iowa in the 80s, you recognize this cookbook. It has become a coveted item in MV these days. Luckily my mom had the good sense to get one for herself as well as both my grandmothers, so now my sister and I each have one. I have very fond memories of my mom pulling this out when she was teaching me to bake. Looking through its pages I see all the adult faces of my youth in that town. Now that I am teaching my own children to cook, I find myself reaching again for this book. It has a recipe for any occasion that should arise in this Midwest woman’s life. Going to a 4th of July potluck and need to make a salad? Look no further than Helen Rockrohr”s Red, White, and Blueberry Salad! Having friends over for Brunch? How about Zelda Radloff’s Spinich Quiche? Is your Rhubarb patch particularly abundant this year? There are no less than 30 recipes for that! There are 52 pages of casseroles!

I have heard that cookbooks are coming back and I have no doubts. Cookbooks from churches and small towns allow us to hold on to the memories of a time gone by, of people and places who shaped us. When we cleaned out my childhood home and had an estate sale, the cookbooks were some of the first things to go. And it wasn’t the shiny, hard cover ones by famous chefs. No, it was the church cookbooks and the cookbooks made by small town groups trying to do fundraising. These are the heart of who we are, written down in teaspoons and cups, baked at 350 for 45 minutes and served with love.

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Tuna Noodle Casserole. I am a Midwestern woman. I was born in the Midwest and I still live in the Midwest. The casserole is a typically midwestern food. Whether you call it a “hot dish”, “goulash” “casserole”, or a “covered dish” it’s all the same to me. It is a comfort food. On Public Radio the other day they were talking about casseroles. They said the basic ingredients were meat, cream of something soup, a vegetable and a starch-usually tater tots. I mostly agreed with them, I took issue with the tater tots. My aunt Lois makes a mean Tater Tot Casserole, but most of the casseroles I have eaten use noodles of some variety. I would also add; you get bonus points for incorporating some leftovers from the fridge!

I remember the night I called my mom and asked her for the recipe for Tuna Noodle Casserole. I was living away from home for the first time as an adult. I was feeling lonely and I really wanted something that reminded me of home and my family. My mom told she didn’t really have a recipe, she just threw some stuff together. Well, I got her to give me a recipe of sorts and started in to make it. That night I ate a big helping and started to feel a little less lonely.

Mom has been gone almost nine years, but each time I make Tuna Noodle Casserole, I just can’t help but think of that night eighteen years ago. And really, isn’t that what food is all about sometimes? The memories we make around the dinner table, the stove, or the kitchen counter.

So tonight as my own family of four gathers around the dinner table, I will feel Mom there with me. And hopefully the Tuna Noodle Casserole will someday remind my own children of home and the love of family.

[sunflowersandserendipity]

New School Year, New Start

I won’t lie, last school year kicked my butt. My class challenged me in ways I have never been challenged before. Thank goodness I had the summer to recharge and get ready for the new school year. I have not done much knitting  or sewing this past year. By the time I got home at night, I was too exhausted to do much more than the daily requirements of family life. 

 I have decided to make a Temperature Blanket this year.  I really like this pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crate--barrel-throw and I think that it will knit up really pretty. There are a lot of examples of crochet Temperature Blankets, but not too many knit ones. I decided to use this pattern because I like the seed stitch. Also, I think it will be more appealing than a garter stitched pattern. It is simple enough that the whole thing won’t look too busy, but complicated enough to be interesting. 

My first mission is to go and get the colors that I will be using. My plan is to begin knitting on September 1st (the first day of school) and go through August 31, 2017. I think it will be nice record of my school year. I will use 11 different colors to represent the temperature ranges >/-10 to >100 degrees. My plan is to stick with fairly traditional colors. But we will see what happens when I buy the yarn!

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Happy Memorial Day! It was a pretty sunny weekend here. We were able to grill out twice this weekend. Tonight was turkey burgers with grilled asparagus. The recipe I found was super simple and so good! I found the recipe here.

http://www.katiescucina.com/2013/05/grilled-parmesan-and-pepper-asparagus/ 

 It is pretty early for asparagus here, but a coworker found some for me. It was big, thick stalks. This weekend I read in the paper that thick asparagus is the best for grilling. I let the asparagus sit for about 15-20 minutes before I put it on the grill. Be careful to watch the time carefully if you don't like limp asparagus.  Enjoy!

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Bringing Home Baby: Part 2

A few months ago I got it in my head that I wanted to make an outfit for the baby to come home in. I  think I was feeling high off the success of the Christmas stocking. I was feeling very confident in my sewing ability. Liam, Patrick, and I went off to the fabric store. I looked for patterns that had the word "easy" in them. I had some requirements for the outfit: It must be unisex, it must not be made from knit fabric (My mom had once told me how dreadful knit fabric was to sew), and it had to be easy to sew ( I wasn't that confident in my abilities). Finally I settled on a pair of overalls. I chose green corduroy material at the store. On the internet I found some ribbon with shamrocks, shamrock buttons, and a decal with a shamrock. (It will be a March baby. Do you see a theme?) The material and all its accruements then sat in the guest bedroom for a month. Finally a couple of weeks ago I got it all out and set to work. 

I carefully cut out the pieces and then laid them all out, ready to begin. After I put Liam to bed one night I started pinning and sewing the pieces together. As I sewed on my grandmother's 1973 Kenmore sewing machine, things were going fine until the reverse button snapped off.  Going back over my stitches was something that Mom pounded into my head. If you don't do it, your stitches will unravel, and your whole piece will fall apart.  I had no idea what I was going to do. After doing some thinking, I decided that at each end I would just turn the piece and go back over it that way.  Slowly, the pieces started to come together.

  I have now come to the conclusion that pregnancy brain is real, and that those that have it should not attempt sewing projects. Over the course of sewing the overalls, I put pieces together wrong. I read and reread directions for an hour only to have Patrick come in take one look at the directions and tell me, "Aren't you just supposed to turn it inside out?".  I put the ribbon and the buttons in the wrong places.  This "simple" sewing project turned out MUCH harder that I had anticipated. At one point I wanted to throw the sewing machine out the window.

Through it all, I could hear the voice of my mother saying, "You know what Aunt Nina would say, 'Fudge it.'" I heard Leanne tell me, "I learned to sew by sitting at my mother's knee and ripping things out." I remembered the wardrobe my grandmother made for my Cabbage Patch Dolls one year for Christmas, made on the very machine I was now sewing on.  I remembered all these things, and I realized that it didn't matter how this outfit turned out. This outfit would be infused with the love all these women gave me and the spirit of the woman who taught me to sew, the women who taught her to sew, and the women who influenced each other. Because, while I was making this outfit I was thinking of them. While they may not be able to hold this child in their arms, these overalls would hold their spirit and the love they passed to me. 

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Bringing Home Baby: Part 1

When I was pregnant with Liam, someone told me that it is good luck to have the newborn come home in something handmade. I really enjoy knitting hats, so I knitted one for Liam. I also knitted a blanket. Patrick helped me to pick out the pattern for the hat. We didn't know if Liam would be a boy or a girl, so we tried to pick out something pretty gender neutral. We ended up choosing a white hat with little yellow chicks all around. 

Baby Snow is set to arrive at the end of March. Patrick and I picked out a pattern that is very springy. I have never made something like this hat, so it was a challenge. 

The blanket is also ready to go. It is green, in honor of the fact that they baby is due in March. I don't have a picture of it right now. 

Next up: The "Coming Home from the Hospital" outfit. Stay tuned...

[sunflowersandserendipity]

The Christmas Stocking: A Story in Pieces-Part 3

My mom would choose the buttons for the stockings based on a variety of things. She would take into account where the child lived as well as possible interests that child might have. So with this in mind, I bought Liam's buttons. I found train buttons (he loves trains) and dog (to represent our two dogs) buttons right away. Cow buttons (because we live in Wisconsin) were a must as well. Patrick coaches football, so I knew my mom would have chosen football buttons, I found some Christmas buttons and some crayon buttons.  I proceeded one night to sew them all on. I have to say, I found this to be really difficult! Much harder than making the actual stocking. The next night, I sewed Liam's name on. My mom was a skilled seamstress. I knew that if she was making the stocking she would have sewn the name so that nothing showed on the inside of the stocking. I tried to do this. I found it impossible. I don't know how my mom did it! She must have sewn it on before she put the cuff on.  

The stocking went with us to Iowa for Christmas and took its rightful place on the mantel for the big night. Christmas morning the stocking was lying next to mine filled to brim with lots of goodies from Santa. A year later...but there nonetheless. Just the way Mom would have wanted it to be.

[sunflowersandserendipity]

The Christmas Stocking: A Story in Pieces-Part 2

When Mom was sewing, she would get a cup of coffee in her blue and white coffee cup, set up the ironing board, turn on KMRY or Iowa Public Radio and set to work. I got a ginger ale, turned on Christmas movies, set up the ironing board and my sewing machine and got to work. As I sewed, I thought of my mom. Christmas was her holiday. She always made it very special for our family.  I remember helping her pick out the buttons for Jesse's stocking. We were in Iowa City on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was pregnant with Liam and we went to a fabric store because I was looking for material for curtains for "the baby's" room. She and I looked over the buttons at the store. She was particular about what she wanted. They had to be representative of Jesse; who he was and who he would be.

I thought about all of that as I pieced the corduroy to the lining. Then I sewed the two pieces together. All the while Christmas specials from my past and present played in the background. As a finished sewing the two sides together, Liam was waking up from his nap. I decided to wait until later to do the cuff. My dad had warned me that the cuff was going to cause me problems.  My mom had always struggled with the cuff. 

Tuesday night, Patrick went to work at the boys' basketball game. I put Liam to bed and decided to attack the cuff. It didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would be. I did have to make a slight adjustment because the cuff was 1/2 an inch too large. I quickly made the adjustment, and before you know it. The stocking was together! Mom must have been watching over me, because it went together easily! When I was done, I said, "Well, there you go, Mom. It's done. What do you think?" I know what she would say. She would say she thought I did a good job. She always told me that whenever I showed her something I had sewn or knitted. She always encouraged me and she was also willing to help if she could. I used to call her all the time when I was stuck on a project. She would say, "Gail, I really need to see it to help you. But, I'll try." I miss having her advice on this. I know she was with me as I stitched. She was as much a part of this as I was. The stocking is put together and now it is time to choose the buttons.

[sunflowersandserendipity]

The Christmas Stocking: A Story in Pieces

Everyone in my family has a hand-made Christmas stocking. My sister and I have stockings knitted by Zelda Radloff. Dad's was made by his mother (I think), Mom made her own, as she did Patrick, Jeff's, Sadie's Charlie's, and Jesse's. The winter I was pregnant with Liam, she told me that she wasn't going to make a stocking for "the baby" just yet. (She was a bit superstitious when it came to children who had not yet arrived. A result of working as a nurse in a hospital setting, and seeing too many tragic births, she once explained to me.) "The baby" would have a stocking for its first Christmas.  She did not live to make that stocking. 

While cleaning out some of her things, my sister and I found the pattern she used to make the stockings, as well as some candy cane fabric left over from a Christmas tablecloth she once made. We agreed that I should take the pattern and material to make Liam's stocking. From that time, until Christmas I kept meaning to have a stocking made for Liam. I didn't trust myself to make it. It was far too important. The pattern and material stayed safely in a bag and Christmas came and went. A stocking for Liam was not made. The bag with the material and pattern stayed in my closet. I would look at it and think, "I have to get that done." The bag moved with us to our new house this summer. It took its rightful place in my closet, where it has remained until a few weeks ago. With Christmas approaching, I decided to take it out of the bag. I had a lead on someone who could make the stocking. 

One day I started to think, "Mom made those stockings. The fact that Mom made them is what makes them so special." I knew that the stocking needed to be made by me.  So, this is what I decided to do. Instead of using the candy cane material, I bought some other material and I would make a "test stocking". That way, if I make a terrible mess of it all, the candy cane material will not be ruined.  I went to the fabric store, bought corduroy, Christmas fabric, and the necessary supplies.

Last week, I cut out the pattern. Today, I have cut out the fabric and I am starting to sew.  I am counting on Mom (who taught me to sew) and Aunt Nina (who taught her to sew), to guide my hand. I am sewing on my grandmother's 1973 Kenmore sewing machine. My mom gave it to me when I told her I wanted to sew soon after moving here. Already I have thought, "I don't understand how to do this! I need to call Mom!" several times. I take another look, reread the pattern, and it becomes clear what I need to do.  I have said aloud, "It's not as pretty as you would make it mom, but I am doing the best I can." and I know that is all she would expect of me.  I have even heard her voice in my head say, "You know what Aunt Nina would say,' If it is not working out the way you expected, fudge it!'" Liam's stocking, and it will be Liam's (unless I REALLY screw it up!), is beginning to come together.  If it all goes okay, next Christmas there will be a new baby with a new stocking. This one will have a candy cane lining and a story to go with it. A story of a stocking, a mother, a daughter, a grandchild, and the ties that bind them all together. 

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Our Tree!

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Picking out a Christmas Tree with Papa Bear.

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Our Little Dragon

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Happy Birthday Mom

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Three Generations of Swanks

Last weekend Dad, Lemon and I went to Sisters, Oregon to visit my maternal grandmother's cousin, Leanne. We spent the weekend telling stories, looking at pictures, and catching up on our lives. My mom and Leanne were very close. Leanne has always been a role model to my mom, my sister and me. It is impossible to put into words how much it meant to be able to spend this time with her. She has lead an interesting life and is the only link left to my mom's side of the family. 

[sunflowersandserendipity]

We had a great time with you Auntie Megan! Thanks for a wonderful day at the Lake!

[sunflowersandserendipity]

Ware Tea

2 Family Size Tea Bags-Brew Strong in "Folk Art" tea pot. Let tea cool

Put tea in gallon milk jug

Add to milk jug:

 1 cup or less sugar, preferably dissolved in tea.

1 (12oz) can frozen lemonade

1 can of ginger ale

Fill jug with water

Mix together

Drink. Preferably on the back screened in porch in the company of a southern gentleman, a librarian, and my mother.