How to Roast a Turkey

Posted on Nov. 24, 2008 at 09:09 AM by HSB Front Porch - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

 

Thanksgiving Menu and plans for it

Posted on Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 2:28 PM by Kitty - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Here is my Thanksgiving menu and the list of plans that will help keep me on track.

 Roasted Turkey

 Cornbread Dressing

 Green Bean Casserole

 Rice Dressing

 Peas

 Sweet Potato Casserole

 Cranberry Compote

 Rolls

 Coconut Cake

 Watergate Salad

 Pecan Pie

There is something for everyone here. Some like this, some like that, so everyone should be able to find something that they can fill up on.

Now here is the list of plans that will help keep me on the right path to that perfect meal. ha ha

Sunday

~Make menu and grocery list. Done

~ Pray that I get through the week and nothing burns. Done, and will do again.

Monday

~Go through freezer and pantry to make sure I have everything I need.

~Check off what I do have and make list for what I don't.

Tuesday

~Head to the grocery store for items needed.

~Move turkey from freezer to the ice box to start the defrosting process.

~Give the whole house a good once over.

Wednesday

~Make sure I know how many people are coming for Thanksgiving meal.  I want to always have enough.

~Do any baking the cake, cornbread, and  pecan pie. Also make watergate salad.

~Boil and de-bone chicken for cornbread dressing.

~Chop all seasonings needed for each dish and refrigerate.

~Take out ground beef for rice dressing and let defrost.

~Put turkey in a cold salt water bath to finish the defrosting.

~Check one last time for last minute items needed and make a mad dash to the grocery store if need be.

Thanksgiving Day

~Cook!

~Eat!

~Clean!

~Rest!

Friday

~Eat leftovers.

~Help dh cook spaghetti and meatballs for some "man" thing that he has this afternoon.

Saturday

~Go eat out!

Thanksgiving Wishes

Posted on Nov. 21, 2008 at 04:00 PM by HSB Front Porch - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Nothing purchased can come close to the renewed sense of gratitude for having family and friends.   ~Courtland Milloy

This season, I am increasingly aware of the blessing of family and friends.  And you wonderful folks here are some of those I feel priveleged to count among my friends; though our connection is just a "cyber" one, I feel a kinship with many of you who are part of this little community. 

I received this little poem in my inbox from another dear friend, and would like to share it with you:

I pray you have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, surrounded by the the blessing of family and friends, enjoying some of the bountiful harvest from your gardens! 

I will be back visiting with you on the Front Porch soon.   Our family is once again "on the move", so it may be a few days until the computer has a new spot in our little nest, and is set up and ready to go.  First must come other things...the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms (oh, they need some serious attention), and of course, a nice sunny spot indoors for my potted herbs. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!!!

Blessings to you and yours,

Catherine

It's giveaway time again! A Christmas Package

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 10:27 AM by Kitty - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

 I posted once before about all the "free" stuff I receive in the mail from many organizations and charities that I sometimes donate to. Well once again I have an abundance of items that I will not be using. This times it's Christmas cards and gift labels. I am not the type of person that throws ANYTHING away. I always try to find another use for it or another home for things.

So I thought with times being the way they are and just yesterday on the blog someone mentioned that they can not afford to buy or mail cards this year, I thought I would offer a package that may be helpful to someone.

I have a package that I have put together that includes the following items.

• 72 gift tags
• 35 or so Christmas cards with envelopes from different organizations or groups, all too cute.
• a 2009 wall calendar
• a smaller one page 2009 calendar with a conversion chart on the reverse side, great for the kids.
• a Christmas CD with 29 great Christmas songs on it from the Disabled Vets
• I will also include a book of 20 Christmas theme, (if I can get Christmas ones) stamps to help with the mailing of the cards.
• And maybe an extra added surprise or two for good measure, lol. 

Sorry I don't have a picture, my camera is still not working, I'm so lost without it too. So if anyone is interested in these items just leave a comment here on my blog. If I should get more than one comment I will draw a winner from the bunch. I will let this ride over the weekend and pull on Monday morning. Hope this is helpful to someone.

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

Posted on Nov. 20, 2008 at 12:31 PM by HSB Front Porch - 6 Comments - Post Comment - Link

My daughter finally finished college, after six years, lol

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:42 AM by Kitty - 6 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Well, she's done it, finally!!!!!  Kristy graduated high school in 2001 with honors and went straight to NSU. Thank God that the university is about 10 minutes away across our little town. She could remain living at home and didn't have far to travel. I made all my children wait until they were 18 before getting their drivers licenses, so she had just started driving.

She started college with an open mind and no real agenda. She was taking general studies courses at first until she decided that she wanted to become a nurse. It was always something that she thought about, so nursing it was. By the middle of the first year she had switched and started taking classes that would lead her to becoming a nurse. Three years into it she got a professor that was sooo mean. When I tell you the class started with 30+ students and within two weeks had lost almost half and that my daughter came home crying almost everyday, I'm not exaggerating a bit. She stuck with it though, until the women got into her face and literally screamed and spat  on her face for something Kristy was even taught.  The professor would skip over things in the books because she "expected" the students to know these things. Well how are they going to learn things that they aren't being taught? I told her to hang on that the year was almost up, but she informed me that once your assigned a professor,  your stuck with them for two years, until you've finished the program. That wasn't an option at that point for Kristy, she couldn't take it anymore.  She left school that day and did not return for a little over a year. I was so upset to say the least.  I even called the school and told someone the story. They told me that they heard several complaints per week about this women, but that they were so short handed, they had no option but to keep her on staff.

So for a year my daughter beat herself up for what she had done to herself.  I was disappointed but never let her see that. I'm not one to push my children into things that I myself probably could not do.  I prayed that she would come  to figure out what she wanted in life and work to get it.

While she was off, she did work at several odd jobs, but nothing made her  happy.  She knew that she had made a big mistake so back to school she went. She found out that she could get back into the nursing program but with a different teacher. She was so excited. Well two more years into the program all is going well. Her grades are fantastic, she even made the Dean's list once or twice. THEN, my husbands little nephew died in my daughter's arm. He was one year old and died of heart failure earlier this year. She was giving him CPR and couldn't revive him.

OK, once again she was tramatized. I'm sure you can figure out where this is heading. Yes, she dropped her nursing classes AGAIN, BUT she dicided that she would get that diploma.

She was short only one credit to graduate. She picked up a speech class and Monday night was her last class. She has to email in her last exam and she's done.  THANK YOU JESUS!!!! LOL

She now has  a great job that she loves. She is working for a home health care company as a data entry clerk. With her partial  medical background  she is good at this job. She works with nurses and some doctors, so she is in at least the area of her choice, lol. 

She called me yesterday from work and asked me if I would go and pick  up her diploma from the school on December 16th because she doesn't want to miss work. She isn't one for big ta-dos or events, so graduating with the large class was never an option for her. So for her long six years of hard ups and downs, I  get to go pick her diploma. I won't even get a picture of her receiving it, LOL.  But, as long as she is happy, isn't that all that matters to us moms!

Save on Shaving Cream

Posted on Nov. 20, 2008 at 12:51 AM by HSB Front Porch - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Don’t you love the ease of shaving with your favorite shaving cream or lotion? Well, you can get that simple time saver for less!

When your shaving cream or lotion runs out, don’t replace it. Instead use olive oil! Olive oil is a bit thicker than other oils, but also provides essential moisture to your skin. Rub it on your leg and shave as usual. If this seems like the end of this frugal practice, hold on, because you will also save on your moisturizing lotion. When you use olive oil in place of shaving cream, you won’t need to moisturize your skin afterwards. DOUBLE SAVINGS!

This tip works with men as well, and since olive oil doesn’t have an odor, no purchasing of separate products. Now that is a simply frugal savings!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

Today's Tips --- Fruitcakes (start them now)

Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 10:13 AM by Kitty - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Today's Tips:

• If you plan to make fruitcakes for Christmas, you need to make them now, this week, because most fruitcakes have to "season" for at least a month and are even better if you can let them set longer.
  
  
• I know some of you would love to give them as gifts, but I suggest starting small until you have some success with them. The ingredients for fruitcakes can be expensive. If you buy a ton of ingredients and make several batches that subsequently flop you can be out a lot of money.
  
  
• Be sure to allow you fruitcake to age for at least a month before you put it in the freezer. Freezing stops the aging (or seasoning) process.
  
  
• Always bake at low temperatures: 250 - 300 degrees is best, but some recipes do go a little higher depending on their ingredients.
  
  
• Because they take so long to bake, line the pan with 1-3 layers of brown paper (you can use a brown paper sack) to prevent them from getting too brown and drying out. Make sure the paper comes up a couple of inches past the top of the pan.
  
  
• Fill the pan only 2/3 full with batter.
  
  
• To help prevent the fruitcake from drying out, place a pan of hot water on a lower rack in the oven while it is baking.
  
  
• To test whether it is done, insert a toothpick. If it comes out moist but not gooey, it is done.
  
  
• Let fruitcakes cool on a cooling rack before taking them out of the pan. When cool, dump them out of the pan and peel off the paper.
  
  
• You can bake in muffin pans or mini loaf pans, but be sure to adjust the baking time. It will be shorter.
  
  
• Don't store in a plastic container. The fruitcake will absorb old flavors that have been left behind in the plastic. Wrap in plastic wrap; then foil. Do not wrap with the foil touching the fruitcake because in some cases it can cause a chemical reaction.
  
  
• You can take any basic recipe and change what you put in it as far as the fruits and nuts are concerned. Just be sure you use the same amounts. For example if it calls for one cup of dried pineapple, you can replace it with mango as long as you use one cup.
  
  
• Always mix the fruit and nuts with some or all of the flour for the recipe before you put it in. This keeps all these things from sinking to the bottom. Do this with any recipe that calls for fruit or nuts.
  
  
• As with any recipe, read it from start to finish before you begin!
  

Today's Recipes:

Here are 4 fruitcake recipes that you might try. The first is not your usual fruitcake, but I thought it was perfect for our web site (Poor mans fruitcake ;-) ) and the second is a more traditional one. Number 3 is a no bake and the fourth, (No Fail fruitcake) I dedicate it to all the first timers.

Poor man's Fruitcake

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
4 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each cloves, nutmeg and salt
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. gum drops, no black ones
3 cups raisins
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and line two 9x5 loaf pans with brown paper. Sift flour, and spices. Cut gum drops into fourths, and mix those, the raisins and nuts with part of flour mix. Cream together butter, sugars and eggs. Alternately, add the flour mix and applesauce. Add soda to hot water and mix it into the batter. Then add the vanilla. Add gumdrops, raisins, and nuts mixture. Bake for 2 hours. If you use a tube pan instead of loaf pans bake 30-40 minutes longer.

Christmas Wreath Fruitcake

(Don't forget that you can take out anything like the dates or fruits and replace them with equal amounts of something you prefer.)

1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup red and green cherries
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup candied pineapple, diced
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp.  lemon zest
4 eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300°. Mix first 8 ingredients. In separate bowl cream butter, sugar and add lemon zest, eggs and lemon juice. Mix into flour mixture. Bake for 2 hours.

No Bake Fruitcake

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups candied pineapple chunks
2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup dried currants
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups almonds, chopped
1/4 cup candies cherries
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt
4 cups graham cracker crumbs

Grease a 9x13 loaf pan. Mix everything well and pour into the pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 1 week to age.

Never Fail Fruitcake

This is a big recipe but you can easily half it. Using half, you can make 22 cupcakes but, if you do, only bake them for 40 minutes.

1 lb. candied cherries, chopped
1 lb. dates, pitted and chopped
1 lb. candied pineapple, chopped
1 lb. pecans, chopped
4 (8oz.) pkgs. coconut
3 Tbsp. flour
2 (14 oz.) cans of sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease two 9x13 pans and line with brown paper or parchment paper.  Mix everything very well and press into pans. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Cool and remove from pan.

This was all taken from my newsletter:

Living On A Dime

Christmas "get to know you"

Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:08 PM by Kitty - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

1.) Wrapping paper or gift bags?  I have to say that every year I try and do something different in that department. One year I wrapped everything in brown mailing paper. Used raffia for ribbons, it was really pretty.

2.) Real tree or artificial? Most of the time it's artificial but this year I might get a real one.

3.) When do you put up the tree? A few days after Thanksgiving, around the weekend after.

4.)When do you take the tree down? The day after Christmas.

5.) Do you like eggnog? OH yes, but I can't have too much of it.

6.) Favorite gift recieved as a child? My Easy Bake Oven. It prepared me for my life as a mom, LOL.

7.)Hardest person to buy for? My husband, he is by far the hardest. He never tells me what he wants and then whatever I do get him, he always looks depressed.

8.)Easiest person to buy for? I would have to say that would be my wonderful daughter, Kristy. She loves anything that she didn't have to buy herself. LOL She loves old vintage things, so last year all she wanted was garage sale and thriftstore items. I had a blast shopping for her and she had a blast opening her gifts.

9.)Do you have a nativity scene? Yes a few small ones, but I would really love a nice one that I could set up on top of my entertainment center.

10.) Mail or e-mail christmas cards? Mail, with pretty Christmas stamps.

11.) Worst christmas gift you ever recieved? I would have to say a tread mill that my dh gave me one year. It was one of those manual ones. Lets just say it went back to the store. lol

12.) Favorite christmas movie? A Christmas Story. The "B B Gun Boy" as we call him, is  in my top five movies of all time.

13.) When do you start shopping for christmas? Early November, sometimes sooner.

14.) Have you ever recycled a christmas present? Probably so.

15.) Favorite thing to eat at christmas? Cornbread dressing and turkey.

16.) Lights on the tree?  Most years yes.

17.) Favorite christmas song? I'll Be Home for Christmas

18.) Travel at christmas or stay home? Always stay home, everyone comes to me.

19.) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes I can.

20.) Angel on top of tree or star? Old fashion quilted star.

21.) Open presents christmas eve or morning?  Christmas Eve at the inlaws and Christmas morning at home.

22.) Most annoying thing about this time of year?  The crowds.

23.) Favorite thing about this time of year? Baking goodies and the cooler weather.

24.) Favorite ornament theme or color? When my dad died 26 years ago, I made an ornament with his picture in it, so that would have to be my favorite one.

25.) Favorite food for christmas dinner?  Same as #15.

26.) Favorite christmas tradition? Putting up the tree and drinking egg nog while listening to holiday music.

27.) What do you want for christmas this year. My family around me.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Weekend Wrap-up

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2008 at 7:37 PM by Kitty - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link

My weekend was a really good one. I got a new car! Yeahhhh! Now I can make a left hand turn without my car killing and leaving me on the side of the road. It was too funny, each time I would make a left turn, it would kill. It was to the point where if I could have gotten to where I was going by making a right, I would have. But that wouldn't have gotten me too far.

My friend Debbie's dh surprised her with a new van a couple of weeks back so she offered me her Marquis. She owed $2,800 on it but she sold it to me for $2,000, what a great friend she is. She even drove it to me from out of town. She moved several years back and now she lives about two hours away from me towards Texas, so we only see each every so often. 

She arrived Friday night after dropping her grandkids off at their other grandma's house, and it was a late night gab fest.  Well not too late really, I think we were alseep by midnight. I remember when we would stay up all night and chat. Boy, we are just getting old. Another sure sign was that we would sit on the porch all night and day, but it was too cold for us so we stayed inside wrapped up in blankets and did our chatting, lol.

We did venture out for some garage salein' Saturday morning with my daughter. I spent only $3 or $4. I bought two books, one is "Foods that Heal" and the other is "The Healing Foods".   I am really interested in learning as much as I can about eating healthier. I also picked up a cute little kitchen rug.

We also went eat lunch at a new Mexican resturant in town, yummy stuff.  She left yesterday afternoon and I missed her not long after she left.

So this morning my dh and I headed out of town to Sam's for a few things. I hadn't gone in a while. I had to depend on my daughter to take me where I wanted to go, if I had to make a left turn lol, so I was excited to be able to go without worry. Hubby and I had a good time getting out for a change. Can't wait to do it again soon.

My camera is still not working, otherwise I would show you'll my new ride, lol. Have a good evening and thanks for stopping by.