The Simple Homemaker

One of the ornaments for the giveaway

The Blessing

of another day.  It's a cold & frosty one for now, but supposed to go to 60* WOW! ... Heat Wave!!!        I thought I lived in the warm and sunny south. 

Thanksgiving is 1 week away.  N drools at just the thought of pumpkin pie and eggnog.       If she had her way, she wouldn't bother with *the meal* ... she would have THAT as her meal ... appetizers, main course, and dessert.   LOL          Anyway, we will be spending the holiday with The Little Sister and her family, Daddy and step-mom, and a family that is just moving to the area.

Thanksgiving ... I hope that is not the only day of the year we ponder about what we are thankful for.     I love the song *Thank You* by The Katina's ... It truely says how I feel.  Everyday!

Hope ya'll have a great day.

In Him,  Jill (the big sister)

In everything, give Him thanks. 

Help needed I'm making a doll

I'm making a doll for my granddaughter she will be 5 on Sunday.We are taking her out to dinner tonight and I'm trying to make a doll..I'm having a hard time on figuring out how to put hair on her..Its made out of muslin..Do I stuff her first then put the hair? I've tried to find tutorial on this but I'm just not getting it..Its  1:45 AM I need sleep but I have to finish this doll. I have put eyes on and a mouth and eye brows I just did running stitch..I still need to sew together the doll make clothes and stuff... Help..Please..

Thanks.. Brenda

MY MOTHER AND I

Oh how good it feels to sit down and look through blogs and let my mind just go...........

I want to thank those who have prayed for my mother and I.  Thank you so much.  She is in ICU still after having  surgery on October 27th.   I thought many times she was not going to make it but she has.  She should've only been in the hospital for a relatively short stay but had one complication after another with pneumonia and respiratory failiure and her body becoming septic and blood clots and the list goes on.  She had a tracheotomy and peg tube yesterday put in and will move from ICU to a long term critical care unit and then on to a rehabilitation home for a year the doctor said today.  This all has been horrifying.  My mother was a well person before all this and got around great with no serious health issues and was very active and happy.   She had just had new flooring put down in her house and had gotten new furniture for her den and sun room.  She was enjoying her new car and loved wearing stylish clothes and was in Church every Sunday to give you an idea of how Mama is and of how shocking this has been for us.

As for me?  I stayed with her constantly for 17 days and then a sister came from another state and has been with her while I came home and got some much needed rest.  I believe I have been at my breaking point and have been just teetering on the edge of somewhere I've never been before.  I covet your prayers for my mother and myself and my entire family.  

I hope, as time allows between trips back and forth, to blog about other things again.  I love my blog and I miss it.  I think it would be good for me to do so and it would help me get my mind off of things if I'm able to.  So come back and visit. 

Question, comments, and my experiments

Hi from Down Under,
I'm trying to grow Stevia for the first time this summer, and I can't seem to get the seeds to germinate. Is there any trick to it, do you know, or am I better to try and find a plant at the nursery?
Rachel L from NZ

I did not have success at growing from seed though it was my first try from seed. I did get a sprout but it didn't make it after that. I may have over watered I don't know. They do say that it is hard to grow from seed. What I did is got the plant and grew from the cuttings. I have three new plants from cuttings I could have made a lot more. I put the cuttings in straight permilite till it rooted (saw new leaves grow) and then put them in soil and a little bigger pots.

Hope that helps

huh... I wonder.... a lot to be able to sell.... but what about just for family/homestead use? Thanks for the idea... I think I will look into this as a supplement to honey.

Thank you for your comments and questions. This is my goal to supplement our sugar or sweetner intake with stevia. I am selling and using stevia green powder that you can cook with.

I will be expermenting on ways to use it and the taste. I will try and keep you all up to date on things I try what works and what doesn't.

limeaid with stevia

Right now I am drinking limeaid with stevia. I started to drink just a glass of water with a lime then thought I'd try adding one of my stevia tea bags to it. Not bad though I may try putting the stevia bag in a little bit of hot water and then try adding it to cold glass of lemon water. Kind of like you do with ice tea. I will let you know how that goes

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

I tryed the recipe below and it tasted good. I used soy milk next time I will use regular milk to see what it taste like.

Exciting News and a giveaway for you.

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

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

Baby Steps

growing and selling stevia

At farmers market I was talking to one of the gardeners about growing stevia. He said he grew stevia once. And that it would take a lot of stevia to be able to fill the bottles to sell. I told him that I wanted to sell what I grew but learn really fast that I would have to grow a lot more in order to do that and that I didn't have the space for it. That it was just best for me to buy bulk and sell that for now. He agreed. Anyway since I make tea it doesn't take that much stevia to fill the tea bags. So I will use the plots I have at Edens for tea only. So I can a least say I grew the tea myself. As far as the bottles I will continue to order in bulk. If I can bring in some money with this I hope to one day get a place where I can grow all the stevia I sell.

(my first growth of stevia from cuttings)

Today or tommorow I plan to get out to my plot and do some weeding.

My friend

Who am I that You are mindful of me

That You hear me when I call

Is it true that You are thinking of me

That You love me

It's amazing...

I am a friend of God

He calls me friend

I am so glad He is my friend.  My best friend.   He knows me better than I know myself.  He is always with me.  I am so truely blessed to have such a friend.

In Him,  Jill (the big sister)