book review & a naked quiche

Oh peoples. I've been wanting to post something here all week but I've had nothing. Well, nothing that I wanted to 'put out there for all the world to see.' What I've had is lots of me whining about my back. Still. Hope to have news from the doc by the end of the week.

So anyway, I don't want to be a whiner or complainer. Let's move on, shall we?

I'm limited for options but there's always food, right? And for some reason I seem to post lots about that.

This month I read The Frugal Foodie Cookbook: Waste-Not Recipes for the Wise Cook. Excellent read. It's chock full of practical tips and easy recipes that call for basic ingredients, many of which most cooks with a stocked pantry would have on hand. I checked it out at my local library so I wanted to test at least one recipe before I had to return it.

Now let me back up just a bit here. This week it's a "living out of the pantry & freezer" week. With the holiday upon us next week, we'll be visiting family, which translates to "I won't be cooking" so I'm using that as an excuse to clean out the cabinets. And you know what? We've been eating just fine. I think it's safe to even go a step farther and say that we've been eating good. If I hadn't announced to the family that we were cleaning out the cabinets, they'd never know that that is what I'm doing.

Ok, so back to tonight's recipe. The book mentioned above had a recipe for Naked Quiche. (Don't you just love that name? I do.) A 'naked quiche' is a crustless quiche. Rather than having to make a crust or buy one, you sprinkle bread crumbs in the bottom of a buttered pie plate! Can't get much easier than that. So, I took their recipe and customized it with ingredients that I had on hand. In lieu of spinach and green onions I used an onion sliced into rings, mushrooms and zucchini which I sliced this summer when they were fresh from the garden and stuck them in the freezer. Instead of 2 c. of shredded swiss cheese I used about 1/4 c. of shredded cheddar and I cubed the last 6 slices of swiss cheese I had from the deli counter.

As I type this, the quiche is cooling, or resting, on the counter. It smells lovely. Toast with butter and jam on the side. Chocolate pudding for dessert.

Go check your library's on-line catalog for this book. You can thank me later.

Oh, and another reason that it will be good to have a cleaned out freezer? Lawman got a deer this morning. First one ever. So my freezer will soon be stocked with venison steaks, ground meat and summer sausage. I've never cooked with venison before so please, if you have suggestions or hints, send them straight to me. I'm gonna need help folks. This is new territory for me.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I am so thankful for each and every one of you that visits here. This world of blogging is like none other. I can't explain it but you all have a special place in my heart. See ya all back here in December. (Can you believe it's almost the end of the year?)

Don't Tell Me You're Bored. I'll Give You Something To Do.

This post originally appeared in June 2008 and in my opinion, is worthy of a repeat. I plan to be using the book mentioned here again as a point of reference this summer.

Have you used that line on your kids before? I know I have. And I'm sure it's been out of frustration. The kids are bored. Nothing to do. Hardly ever the case with moms though, right? "A mother's work is never done." Tell me you're bored and I'll give you a dust rag or a mop.

Several years ago, while visiting the in-laws, I found this book laying on the dresser in the guest room. Coincidence? Were they trying to tell Lawman and me something? Doesn't matter. It caught my attention. So much so that I asked them if I could take it with me when I left. They obliged. (Although I'm sure what they were thinking was "SCORE!")

Turns out that I've used this book as a point of reference time and time again ever since. And, most often in the summer as it seems that's when it's easier for me to FOCUS on the tasks at hand.

As a freshman in college, I remember a specific encounter with another gal in the laundry room. It was early in the semester, maybe 2 weeks since the start of classes, and many of us had ventured to the laundry room to put in a load or two. This particular gal I am remembering, had apparently never had to do her own laundry. She hadn't the slightest idea where to start. She asked me for help. I'm sure I gave her a wide-eyed look like, "What? You're kidding, right?" Well, being the good samaritan that I am, I showed her how to sort, start the washer, etc. Within 10 minutes she had her undies in the washer and gave a sigh of relief.

Shame on her mama for allowing that to happen! What had she been doing for 18 years with that girl at home? Didn't she ever have chores to do?

Sadly, that's the way of life for many young people all across America and the world today. They are catered to in their own homes and never taught a single life-skill. How in the world can we, as parents, expect our children to be productive citizens of society if they can't even boil water or do a load of laundry?

Are you still with me? Back to the book.

This book is about teaching skills to our children. Yes, skills. Simple skills. It indicates that by the time a child is 11 they should be able to perform many household tasks on their own. Did you catch that? BY AGE 11.

Since finding this book about 6 years ago I've referred to the list of age appropriate skills at least a million times. And I did so again just last week. I even asked our youngest daughter, who will turn 12 in another week, to read what skills she should be able to do. After she read them I asked her if she thought she could successfully complete everything that was listed. She thought there were some things that she probably needed practice on so we made our goals for the summer. Here's what she will be working on.


Cooking from a recipe;

Laundry and;

Sewing on a button.


It's no wonder she needs practice with sewing on a button. She doesn't see her mother do that very often!


Since that episode in the dormitory laundry room years ago, I vowed that I wouldn't allow my children to be in that predicament. The cooking and laundry will be easy skills to work on as those things happen on a daily basis at our house. As for the sewing on of a button....well, we'll see about that.

Lucky Me and a Book Review

I've been reading Mary's adventures in parenting at Owlhaven for about a year. A few weeks ago she was hosting a giveaway. A giveaway for one of her books. Yes, hers. It was my lucky day! I won.

There's always an abundance of activity in Mary's home with ten children ~ some are biological, some are adopted from Korea and Ethiopia. All are hers and all are loved. She has a big heart. (Not to mention the size of her garden.)

She has the same issues every mother does, just on a larger scale than the 'average' family. She's expected to have a meal on the table at a reasonable hour, her laundry can turn into a mountain if she doesn't keep on top of it and yes, she even has kids who don't want to go to bed or clean their room without a fuss.

In her book she shares insights into her family and how they manage. Organization, money, bed times, activities, schooling, friendships ~ these are issues that all mothers deal with. Mary shares tips, tricks and methods that she and her husband have found to work for them. I have a much smaller family than the Ostyn's yet much of what she shares applies to our family as well.

If we're honest, don't all mother's have the same desires for their children? We want what is best for our children no matter where we live, no matter what our socio-economic status, no matter the language we speak. To be loved, healthy, confident, well educated and successful are things every mother wants for her children. So whether you have a family of 1, 2, 6, or more, I'm sure you can relate to what Mary says and find a common thread.

There's more to come. She's recently written a cookbook to be published in the coming months.

(Update: Mary's got a giveaway up today for another copy of her book. Get yourself over there now and sign up! You can thank me later if you win.)

Takin' a Road Trip

Road trip. Everyone should take one on occassion, don't you think?

I took one a few weeks ago with 3 gals. We went to a quaint, little town in the Flint Hills. A town that has special appeal to me. It feels like home.

Because it is my home. I grew up there.

This trip had a purpose other than just sharing my hometown with my girlfriends. The region of the Flint Hills that I grew up in is the setting of a book that these gals and I read. We're in a book club together. We read The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard.

This book was suggested to me about a year ago by my sister-in-law, Nancy and her daughter, Marcy. They had both read it and highly recommended it, not only because of its setting but also because of the story line. I took their advice, as it's usually quite good, and purchased that book. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. It's a very quick read and it pulled me in immediately.

I suggested it to my book club as a possible selection as we typically try to read one book each year by a regional author. The author, lived in Prairie Village, Kansas when she wrote the book and she and her (then) husband owned a ranch in the Flint Hills.

Now, about the book. It's a mystery. The chapters switch back and forth between the present and the past but I didn't find it difficult to follow.

The setting is a fictional town located between Manhattan and Council Grove, Kansas on Highway 177. The body of a young girl is discovered by the Sheriff and his sons (Rex & Patrick) during a snow storm in 1987. They take her to the home of the local doctor and here is where the mystery begins. The doctor and the sheriff both recognize the young girl and in the best interest of those they think may be responsible for her death, beat her face beyond recognition. Unbeknownst to them, Mitch is hiding in a closet in the doctor's office. The next day Mitch is sent away by his parents; his father happens to be the local judge.

This turns the lives of three teenagers - Abby, Rex & Mitch - and their families upside down. Abby & Mitch are teenagers in love and Rex is Mitch's best friend and also a very close friend of Abby's.

Fast forward to 2004. Rex is now Sheriff and Abby runs a local greenhouse and landscaping service. During a snow storm, Rex and Abby find another victim -- Mitch's mother -- in the cemetary near the headstone that marks the burial spot of the young girl found in the 1987 snow storm.

Now that the weather has turned cooler, we'll have days that are perfect for curling up on the couch with a good book. Here's one to try. What are you reading?

And, if you'd like to see some photos from our road trip, you can check them out here and here at Rechelle's blogs.

All photos courtesy of The Country Doctor's Wife.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

While on vacation earlier this month, I purchased a book for the plane ride home.

I'd been eyeing this book on the shelves of the bookstore for several months. I finally decided it was time to buy it.

Although I had looked at it many times, I had never bought it because I thought it was probably too far left or too far right. I think it's great to grow your own but I figured she (Barbara Kingsolver) was probably a fanatic about living off the land and I wasn't sure that I wanted to go down that road. Now I can say that I'm glad I read it. I found it very interesting and very informative.

I think it's great that Barbara and her family made this journey and the fact that she did it with everyone on board is amazing considering she had two girls (a teen and a 10 year old) who were ready to make this move as well. Obviously there had been much preparation as a family for this journey (which she briefly discusses in the book). I'm not sure that my girls (15 and 12) would be so willing to give up their favorite snack foods (yes, some happen to be processed - don't shoot me). Nor do I think that Lawman and I are willing to work the land (a full-time job, especially in the summer months) to stock the pantry. If we didn't have to work a full-time job in addition to working the land in order to keep a roof over our heads then it might be more appealing.

It did provide food for thought and reflection though.

Food for thought -- Yes, I'm well aware that I'm not always playing my "A" game when I do my grocery shopping. I'll even admit that our family has traveled that drive-thru lane more than one or two times. I would also venture to tell you that as a whole we eat rather well. I don't always buy organic (sometimes it's price prohibitive and honestly, I can't always tell the difference). I do try to purchase seasonal produce from our local farmer's market(s). I love the freshness of the vegetables and fruits when they're in season. We've had fresh peaches this summer and biting into the juicy, sweet flesh is better than any piece of candy I could get out of a candy jar. We'll still be eating bananas (unlike the Kingsolver family); I'm not willing to give that up in order to become a 'locavore'. Could I do better? Sure and somedays I do. I'm a firm believer though of everything in moderation. Since reading this book, I've tried to pay more attention about where our food comes from, distance, traveled, etc.

Reflection -- Reading about life on the Kingsolver farm provided opportunities for much reflection on my childhood. I grew up on a farm. Until I was six we lived out in the midst of the Flint Hills. Way out...I rode the bus an hour to school and an hour home. That's a really long ride when you're in kindergarden. We had a lot of livestock -- pigs, cows, horses. I had pets too; a dog, a bottle-fed lamb and a horse named Kitty. [Kitty was always saddled up and waiting for me when I got home from school. She was my means of transportation to my friend's house. I'd tie her up to their flagpole where she'd munch on grass while I played until it was time to head home for dinner. Sorry about the digression there.] Eventually a couple pieces of that livestock would find it's way into our freezer and no, it wasn't my pet lamb, but the pork and beef sure tasted good. I've had some people ask me if I found it traumatic to think that the pigs and cows I saw daily eventually ended up on my dinner plate. In a word, No. Honestly, it never crossed my mind. I'm sure that's because it was our way of life; I didn't know any different.

We had fruits and vegetables too. We had a big pear tree near the pig barn. Those pears were so good and juicy. We would eat them straight off the tree. Mom would make batch after batch of pear honey to get us through the winter. I remember eating it on toast just like it was yesterday. The sad news is that she never had a recipe for it and she can't remember how she made it. Even the older grandkids remember eating it and they've asked time and time again how to make it so they could recreate it for their own family. I also remember harvesting asparagus with Mom. It grew on another property my folks owned and we'd go over there nearly every day in the spring to bring it home for dinner. To this day, asparagus is one of my absolute favorite vegetables.

Then we moved to town. Not literally but compared to where we had lived, it was town. We were now only 1.5 miles away from town. That's a 10 minute bus ride to school. Big difference.

We were still on a farm. We still had cows and horses. Our freezer was always stocked with a side of beef. Now we had an orchard with apple and cherry trees which meant homemade applesauce, applebutter, cherry jam and plenty of apple and cherry pies. The orchard also had a large sunny spot just perfect for a garden. A big garden. Mom planted everything -- peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, lettuce, carrots. You get the idea. We were never hungry. I was Mom's helper. I learned how to prepare the soil for planting, how to plant the seeds/plants, how to harvest the fruits of our labor, and I also learned how to prepare it for eating. I'm sure at the time I groaned and complained about having to dig potatoes or climb the trees to pick the fruit (sorry Mom). I don't think I probably ever complained about eating a tomoato fresh from the vine or still warm from the sun. Nor did I complain about our favorite family meals, many of which included the staples that we had grown and prepared ourselves.

For more information on Barbara Kingsolver and her food journey, visit http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

Book Review: The Jump-Off Creek

Last night I finished another book. The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss.

I probably would not have selected this book on my own. I read it because it is a favorite read of my friend, Lorie. She recommended it several years ago and it's taken me this long to get to it. I had to dust it off as it had been sitting on my night stand for years. Literally.

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It's the story of Lydia Sanderson, a woman on the Oregon frontier in the 1890's. There are very few women on the frontier at this time and those that are there are married. Not Lydia. She was a go-getter. She headed to the frontier for all the possibilities that existed there.

The property she purchased, site unseen, is in poor condition. When she arrives, there are squatters on her land. She sends them packin'. Now that would make me nervous. Kick men out of their shelter and tell them to be on their merry way. Uh, hello. Wouldn't you be nervous that they'd come back? I'm not sure I'd sleep but I'd have my gun fully loaded and ready for firin'.

Upon entering the one room house, she finds much to be in need of repair. The bottom of the stove is rusted out, you can see daylight through the side of the house, there's holes in the roof and just a hard bunk to sleep on.


Lydia brings with her a mule and 2 goats. And not much else. However, she does always have milk, butter and cheese. All rarities on the prairie and eventually it becomes a means of trade for her.


She makes friends with Tim Whiteaker and Blue Odell. Gentleman who live over the hill or down the creek or somewhere that's relatively close. Or relative in those days anyway. There's a scene between Tim and Lydia that I found to be quite odd. Won't give it away if you decide to read the book but let me just say that they approached relationships in a different way back then. I thought it appeared to be more out of necessity than love.

Sounds like the only possibility she found on the frontier was work. Hard work and lots of it. That's exactly what she did and I don't think she was sorry she went on that adventure.


If you like frontier fiction, you'll enjoy this book. I did see similarities between it and The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas which I absolutely love.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I'm a reader. Always have been. As a kid I always had a book in hand. It was a way for me to go on an adventure. And I still feel that way. There have been periods in my life where I haven't been able to read as much as I would have liked to...college, when my babies were tiny, etc. But now I don't have any excuse.

When our girls were 4 and 1 my New Year's Resolution was to read more books. More adult books because I was reading plenty of children's books. I'm happy to report that is one resolution I've been able to achieve success with. And still am. I'm also a member of a book club which keeps me motivated but that's another story for another time.


My first read of 2008 was The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. I'd never heard of the book or the author until I started reading Pioneer Woman's blog. I liked Pioneer Woman's blog and her side bar says she channels Sylvia Plath so I figured if PW is this cool, Sylvia Plath must be too. Boy did I need to get an education. About Sylvia Plath.


Sylvia was a poet and novelist. She had her first poem published at the age of 8 in a local newspaper. Her father was a zoologist at Boston University who died shortly after her 8th birthday from diabetes which he incorrectly self-diagnosed.


Sylvia attended Smith College and also Cambridge University. During her 3rd year at Smith she received a scholarship for Guest Editor of Mademoiselle. She married English poet Ted Hughes and died in London at the early age of 30.


It is said that The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiographical work. The story follows Esther Greenwood during her summer internship with a New York fashion magazine. Esther's friend Doreen is there to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way, some of which the girl should have said no to. And then there's Betsy from Kansas who Doreen refers to as "Pollyanna Cowgirl." Esther is exhillerated by this New York lifestyle but also scared and confused. Esther would have been better off if she would have been able to make her own decisions but the girl's a follower. Which leads her to situations that she doesn't know how to handle.


Upon the completion of her internship Esther returns home. Depressed, she sets her hopes on attending a writing course. When that doesn't pan out, she decides to write a novel. But that never materializes. Her mother encourages her to take a stenography class because that is a skill that would last her a lifetime. Esther wants nothing to do with that as she's not interested in the traditional roles available for women.


Not able to sleep for days, insomnia ensues. Her mother forces her to see a psychiatrist who immediately diagnoses her with a mental illness and proceeds to administer electroshock therapy incorrectly. Esther feels as if she's trapped under a bell jar and there's no air. After several failed suicidal attempts, Esther enters her new home; a mental hospital. Several life altering events during her stay lead to her regaining her sanity. The book closes with her interview which will decide if she's able to leave the mental hospital or not.


If you're looking for an upbeat or light-hearted read, keep looking. As much as it's possible to enjoy a depressing, gray book, I did. I chose this book because I'd heard so much about the author and I wanted to cure my curiosity. My personal opinion is that Esther did not need to be in a mental ward but that her mother didn't know how to handle the situation. I saw Esther having sane moments but being trapped because others had told her she was crazy. Her personality was to be a follower, and therefore she didn't know to voice her own thoughts in a way that others would hear her desires.


I will have to say that when I think of Esther Greenwood feeling like she's trapped in a bell jar, the visual image I have is from the 1940's, which would have been during the lifetime of both Esther and Sylvia, when Pheasant Under Glass was available in upscale restaurants.

I'm curious if PW has read this. And, I'd like to know just what characteristics of Sylvia Plath she's channeling.