The Mennobrarian

In and Around the Home This Week

12:00, Monday, October 13, 2008 .. Posted in Homemaking .. 3 comments .. Link

Although we are still enjoying mild temperatures here, thoughts of heating for the winter are on our minds. At this time last year, we could easily turn on the oil heat and enjoy the warmth radiating through the vents, but I have learned that when renovating a home, progress comes with a price, and things sometimes get very inconvenient right before something improves dramatically. For instance, we had no exterior lights outside our home for the longest time. When it was dark and we needed to go out, you could find me fumbling around outside with a flashlight. Now, we have floodlights so numerous and bright that I am certain it scares planes flying over our house when the exterior lights are turned on.

But for stories of unplanned inconvenience, nothing beats the tale of the oil tank. In order to build our new back step and back door (which I really really love) my husband had to move an oil tank away from the house and out into the yard. And if that wasn't hard enough, the tank had oil in it, which had to somehow be drained before the tank could be moved. My husband actually took it upon himself to drain the tank and store the oil so the tank could be easily moved and the back door could be built. Well, wouldn't you know, that during the summer, while the oil tank was sitting out in the yard unconnected to the house, the oil company came by and filled the tank?

Who would have thought?

It turned out that every year in the late summer months the oil company gets a jump on the heating season by running around and filling everyone's tank...even errant tanks in the middle of yards that are not connected to a house. So, my husband went out and purchased some sort of long pipe to reconnect the tank to the house from where it is, so we can use the oil in it all up and move the tank back to the correct location.

And now we have all this oil with a wood stove on the way, too. I couldn't have imagined that we would be so overly prepared to heat our home this winter. (Not that I'm complaining.) And if the results are anything like the floodlight project, this will be a very warm house.

In the Kitchen: I am using up some of those last garden gleanings to make quarts of chow chow relish. My recipe uses lots of green tomatoes, and it feels good to get some mileage out of those things that are out there on the vines. Supper happenings were tomato-cheddar bread, spaghetti squash, seafood chowder, chocolate layer cake. There is also an odd plant in my kitchen by the window: I read somewhere that if you plant a green onion in a pot and water it like any plant, and then only cut off the green parts, it will keep growing and you won't need to buy scallions anymore. Has anyone tried this?

Around the Home: Picking up on winter sewing and other forgotten projects. So many things get put on hold during the summer months and it's so nice to have more time to spend writing letters, visiting with family and friends, and tending to all those corners of clutter that accumulate in the busy garden months.

Recipe:

Orange Almond* Bread
*you can use any kind of nut, it's just that I had sliced almonds on hand!

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. grated orange peel
2 T melted butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Sift flour. Add baking powder, salt, and sugar. Sift again. In a separate bowl, combine egg, milk, and butter, then add to flour mixture. Fold in orange peel and nuts. Stir until mixed. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 375 for one hour. Enjoy this with your favorite spread.
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Heating a home *smile*

04:04, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 .. Posted by ajhelvie
Dear Mennobrarian,
Who knew it could be so interesting to heat a home. *smile* I giggled at the end of the gas tank story and can relate to your lighting story. It does seem to take up quite a bit of time to get a project done properly. My husband is a wonderful home improvement kind as well. So, we have different things going on around our home to improve it as well. Our latest project has been to update our windows as we had the old storm windows that were two windows put up in the same window spot. Now we have the new kind of storm windows and they are great. Just one thick window and the ones on the side of the house that gets a lot of direct sun light have a little tinting so we don't get cooked out of the rooms. It is wonderful! Not to mention that now our two largest rooms both have windows that open so we can get the fresh air flowing through the place. I really like it!
Have a wonderful day and remember to pray always.
Blessings, -me- (Mommy of two little blessings)

Recipe

12:48, Thursday, October 16, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous
Dear Monica, Yahoo! Thank you for the recipe. This sounds like a perfect treat to take to Ladies Bible Study when it's my turn next month. Yes, we have had some very chilly mornings...like scrape the ice off the pickup window mornings. Today it is gray, dreary, and 40 degrees. I expect it will be snowing before the end of the month. Blessings...Vicci

Mmmmm....

08:39, Wednesday, October 22, 2008 .. Posted by missourimom
i'll definitely try your recipe, as we still enjoy your sweet potato muffins frequently! I thought of you recently, as I had several of my husband's (PA Mennonite) family over for a turkey dinner. They were on their way to Branson, and stopped to see us. They were reminiscing over long gone years, and my mother-in-law was mentioning how most of the girls didn't even finish high school. I'm sure my college-bound father-in-law was looked at funny!

I hope you and your house warm up soon!

Leslie