Creative Homemaker

Here's another quick review from the Durrant Family Cookbook, A Home-Cooked Heritage. I believe this recipe originally came from the back of the Cream of Wheat container, but I have done research on the web and I can't seem to find any evidence of that. Maybe it's just lost to everyone but we Durrants who have the cookbook. So, here is our family-favorite breakfast. It was originally published in the dessert section of the Durrant Cookbook because of the name pudding, but it's really hot cereal. POWERHOUSE PUDDING 8 c. milk (I use 8 c. water and 2-3 c. powdered milk) 1 tsp salt. 1 c. Instant Cream of Wheat 4 eggs, beaten Bring milk and salt to a boil. Slowly sprinkle in Cream of Wheat, stirring constantly. Keep stirring over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Beat a little of the hot cream of wheat into the beaten eggs. Return egg mixture to pan, stir and cook 1 minute more. Add your choice of flavoring and serve hot or chilled. VA...

I'm frugal. Some may call me down right cheap. That's ok.  When you have a family as big as ours you have to find ways to be creative.  When Bear bought me a new washer and dryer set, we stocked up on Arm and Hammer liquid laundry detergent. I like it, it works and it's pretty cheap too. But this month, our budget took a major hit.  Big Blue, my '98 Suburban blew the engine. She was very sick.  So, her new heart is costing us this month's grocery budget and then some.  I had to find ways of cutting corners. We have been living off our food storage this month and doing without the "fun stuff" in order to pay for the "heart" transplant. I thought that since my laundry detergent supply was getting low I would save my pennies and buy the ingredients to make my own. I've done this before, and made the liquid kind but I really didn't care for the gloppy goop that I came up with.  I have no place in my laundry room for a large 5 gallon ...

http://kristygriffard.blogspot.com/2012/07/meridian-speedway-fundraiser.html The quilt was made by my sister Sylvia and me in memory of my brother Gordon who recently died of Leukemia. The money goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My neice Kristy and my brother Brian are training to run in the City of Trees Marathon on October 14 th . The  goal is $4500 for our team ($1500 X 3) and they are at almost $1500 right now. The quilt my sister Sylvia and I created is now being auctioned. Contact my neice Kristy at the above link, if you are interested.  Tickets are $1. You don't need to be present to win, nor do you need to attend to purchase tickets.

I find myself wishing a lot lately.  Wishing I were thinner, wishing my foot didn't hurt, wishing it wouldn't rain so much, wishing the laundry was finished--and would stay that way. I wish that summer was here already, wishing the kids were better at doing their schoolwork. The thing I most wish is that were moving. Not necessarily packing and driving to a new place, but that we knew the direction God has planned for us--that we were actually going places, heading in a new direction. God isn't finished with us here yet and I think that is what irritates me.  I think in my own feeble mind that I have learned all I can here and it's time to move on.  I long to be settled. I long to be able to plant an apple tree and see it grow from a young sapling to a productive tree.  I long to plan and design a home that will be comfortable with my things in their places. I'm ready, but God says wait.  God has said that for a while now and I get so impatient just wait...

Years ago, when I started this blog I made up this persona, Skinny Girl.  She lives inside of me and has even made herself public for a while after the birth of Robbie. I've managed to subdue her and keep her quiet with copious amounts of chocolate cake, pies and very little activity. I'm surprised at how easy it was to shut her up. She's been screaming for a few months and I can't ignore her any longer. She occasionally rears her skinny little head and crabs at me to take a hike--or a walk--whatever; the message is the same to me. I don't like Fat Girl either. She's annoying.  She whines about aches and pains and bi-focals and tendonitis. I'm tired of hearing how her clothes don't fit right, how the bathroom scales show larger numbers during "that time of the month." So, in order to shut them both up, and thereby create a bit more sanity inside my head, I have tried to take long walks along our bike path, but I've developed foot p...

My new friend is my Tin Lizzie, whom I have affectionately named Lucy.  She and I have been getting to know one another as we work out our little idiosincrisies. I've finished 7 quilt since I got her up and running just a month and a half.  My free motion quilting has improved, and I've learned a few things that have made my quilting better.  The biggest thing I have learned is to slow down and do things right the first time.  Planning the design is probably the hardest part. I have completed some quilts using an all over meander, scrolls with hearts, flowers and stars intermingled. My greatest accomplishment is a sampler quilt for a friend. I can't unveil it yet because it hasn't been given yet. Soon, I promise. Here are a few pictures of the latest finishes:  This is a quilt top my Mom put together with a piece of vintage toy fabric. The toys are vintage and so is the fabric! I quilted it with an all over scroll design.  It was quilt number ...

My dear sweet hubby let me buy, in fact encouraged me to purchase, a floor model Tin Lizzie 18 DLS.  I've been stitching lots of flimsies lately, and getting a lot done, yet I feel sort of numb to it all. I put money down on layaway before Gordon died and brought the machine home just after the funeral. I promise I will post pictures and add descriptions soon, my heart hurts, I'm in emotional pain and quilting gives me something to concentrate on and a brainless task to accomplish.  It has been my therapy, literally, to go in my sewing room and just work. The house is sort of falling apart, my kids are bickering and their schooling is slacking considerably. This post may not even be coherent, I'm feeling very foggy since Gordon's funeral.