WFMW: Dirty Dishcloths

 

I've been waiting for today's Works-for-Me-Wednesday Backwards Day so I can ask: what do you do with your dirty dishcloths until laundry day? I’ve found that I can’t just throw them into the hamper with everything else, or they make everything stink. So, I’ve been keeping them in a little plastic basket under the sink until I’m ready to wash them, but even so, they often get moldy and gross and I have to use a ton of bleach to get them to smell fresh again. So tell me, what works for you?

Make sure to visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for other Works-for-Me-Wednesday ideas, and feel free to post your own "advice-needed" question on your blog for Backwards Day!

Nice Kitty

When 1-year-old and I take a walk to the park, we always pass a house that has two lion statues guarding the driveway. This morning, I stopped at the first statue and made a big deal over it, asking 1-year-old, "What does a lion say? A lion says ROAR!" 1-year-old just smiled. Then I went to the second lion statue and again asked, "What does a lion say?" I waited for a moment, and then 1-year-old very clearly enunciated, "Meow!"

The BEST Pumpkin Pie

 

I hear that some parts of the country are still in the high 80's or above, but where I live, today was a pumpkin-pie kind of day...chilly, blustery, and off-and-on rainy. Since I was heading to the grocery store anyway, I picked up a few ingredients, and whipped up a couple of pies using my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. What makes this pie so yummy is that you scorch the pumpkin puree to carmelize the sugars. It has such a good flavor! I doubled the recipe below and made 2 pies.

This recipe comes from my most treasured cookbook: Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking. It is a 2-volume, 1500+ page work from the 1950's era. Someday maybe I will do a blog post on why this cookbook is so awesome and stands out among all my other cookbooks. The short version is that the recipes are very descriptive and detailed.

I will quote the recipe exactly as it is printed in the cookbook.

PUMPKIN PIE No. 1--BAKED AT TWO TEMPERATURES
A delicious mildly spiced pie. Scorching the pumpkin, as Grandma did, gives excellent flavor

Pastry for 9-inch Single Crust
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree or home cooked
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar, pkd
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp boiling water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup 12% cream, half-and-half

Adjust rack 4 or 5 inches above bottom of oven. Start oven 10 min before baking; set to moderately hot (425 degrees F).

Make pastry. Roll out and line a 9-inch pie pan, fitting well into angles. Trim off with scissors 1/2-inch beyond pan rim; turn overhang under so fold is even with pan rim. Crimp with fork leaving edge flat or flute with fingers. Do not prick pastry. Turn pumpkin into a 3-qt saucepan, place over direct heat, cook and stir until it is dried out and the natural sugar in it is slightly carmelized (scorched but not burned). This takes about 10 min. Remove from heat. Beat eggs until just mixed, stir in sugar, milk and spices that have been blended to a smooth paste with the hot water. Stir in pumpkin, salt and cream until thoroughly blended. Pour into pastry-lined pan. Bake 15 min; then reduce heat to slow (300 degrees F), opening oven a min or so for heat to drop rapidly to 300 degrees F. Bake about 25 min longer or until custard has coagulated all except a small circle in center. This will set later. Remove to cake rack to cook to lukewarm before cutting. 6 servings.

Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking. Copyright 1969, by Meta Given. Published by J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago.

Ingredients for 9-inch single crust pastry shell

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp vegetable shortening
3 1/3 tbsp room temperature water

There are some very good, detailed instructions for making pie crust in this cookbook, which I don't have time to type up tonight, but if anyone wants them, let me know in a comment, and I will do a pie crust post soon.

Someone smart, please help me

Random question: I have a book from 1969 that has been out-of-print for a long time. I would like to type up some passages from it and share them on this blog. Is this legal?

Babies at church--any tips?

Hubby and I are part of a house church of about 30 people. We meet every Sunday night at the home of someone in the church. We eat dinner together (prepared by different people every week), then we sing, pray, usually have a teaching time, and share what's going on in our lives. I love getting together with other believers, listening to the Word being taught, etc., but nearly every week I dread going to church because there's no easy solution as to what to do with 1-year-old. Usually we bring a playpen and set it up in a back bedroom, then I nurse him, sing to him, do all the usual things, and then put him in the playpen and tell him to go nigh-night. He always screams for a long time before (sometimes) finally drifting off to sleep, and I feel so bad for making him to try to sleep all alone in an unfamiliar environment with the noise of 30 people swirling around him. The other choice is letting him stay awake and be out with us, which usually means that he is a distraction to everyone and neither Hubby nor I (especially I) can focus on the teaching or what anyone else is sharing at all, because we're too busy trying to keep 1-year-old quiet and occupied. It's such a huge hassle that sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it.

Tonight 1-year-old was acting so extremely fussy right before it was time to leave for church that we decided that I would just stay home with him. He is teething and must be in pain, because he is constantly crying and pointing at the little tooth that is pushing through, plus he still has a bit of a cold. Hubby had to go to church because he is teaching the Bible lesson to the older kids tonight.

Anyway, I guess I am wondering if anyone has ever been in a similar situation and what you have done. I don't want to dread going to church every week! Also, I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, but I keep thinking about how crazy and challenging church will be when this new baby is born. 1-year-old will be 20 months old then.

The weekend, so far

I am feeling much better. I haven't had morning sickness for the past few days, I have more energy, and my senses of taste and smell are returning.

Hubby has been on a trip with some other men from our church for the past few days, but he is getting home tonight. I can't wait to see him again! I miss him so much when he is gone. I think 1-year-old missed him, too. 1-year-old did end up getting what I had, but he is almost better. We had a few rough nights with lots of waking up and crying, partly because of his cold, and partly because he is getting in another tooth (his 8th)!

While Hubby was gone, I shopped around at various craft stores and discount stores and bought a few items to go on the walls in our living room, which were previously quite bare. We had been waiting to decorate until we could afford a slipcover for our very retro-looking couch (green and brown flowers, plus stripes--I've been waiting to cover that thing up for a long time), which we were able to do last week. We ordered it online, so we're still waiting for it to arrive, but we measured carefully and made sure to choose all the right options (T-cushion, wing back, etc.), so I'm pretty sure it will work. It was hard to tell the exact color from the little sample swatch on the manufacturer's website, but it is a deep red/burgundy, which will coordinate well with the dark teal-ish armchair and loveseat that are also in our living room. I like the way our living room looks now (well, except for the ugly couch that I'm eager to cover!). I bought a wall planter and some moss and silk ivy vines to go in it, a burgundy wooden sign that says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," and a tri-colored dried eucalyptus wreath (green, burgundy, and brown--it smells so good!) that kind of ties everything together, AND, I got out nails and hammer and hung them all on the walls, all by myself, thank you very much! :-) Hee hee, I have always had someone else around who knows what they are doing when it is time to hang things on the walls, so I had actually never done it myself before. I was pleased that I didn't smash my thumb and actually managed to get things to hang straight. I think Hubby will like the living room's new look. It seems a lot homier now. I plan to post a picture soon, but I can't at the moment because Hubby took our digital camera on his trip.

My mom came over to spend some time with 1-year-old and me. My parents live 2 1/2 hours away from us, so we don't see them as often as we'd like, and it is always special when they visit. 1-year-old had a great time with her. She read him lots of stories, which is a sure way to win him over. She and I had some good girl bonding time, too. We watched a chick flick together last night, and today we browsed some antique stores.

Sick Again

I am sick...again...with a bad cold, plus my morning sickness today was the worst it's been so far this pregnancy. Fortunately, Hubby and Baby Boy seem to be staying healthy. I feel a bit discouraged because my house is a mess and I have no energy to clean it; the kitchen is the worst--there are (nonperishable) grocery items from Hubby's shopping trip today still in bags on the counter, as well as unwashed dishes (although not too many, as Hubby has been helping a lot with dishes). For the past few days, the smell and sight of dirty dishes has made me feel nauseated....I can't even go near them. Blech.

Morning sickness stopped with my last pregnancy around week twelve, so hopefully I've just got to hang in there for a few more weeks!

I haven't gained any weight so far this pregnancy, which is fine with me. I think I started packing on the pounds almost immediately after I found out I was pregnant last time--I craved carbs and freely indulged in eating lots of bread products. This time, I'm trying to only eat one or two servings of grains a day. It is strange being pregnant and yet not feeling (except for the morning sickness) or looking pregnant.

Anyway, please just say a little prayer that I will feel better soon so I can take care of my family the way I want to!

Big News!

Now that I've told my family and friends in real life, I can finally announce here that we are expecting our second child at the end of April 2008! Baby Boy will be 20 months old then. I can't figure out how to put a baby ticker under my header above, so I put one all the way down at the bottom of the page.

Today is my 24th birthday. My parents came over last weekend to celebrate and gave me a beautiful 19-string folk harp! I was completely surprised. I had mentioned to my mom just once months and months ago that I thought it would be nice to learn to play the harp, and she remembered. I also received a lesson book, so I am beginning to learn to play.

Tonight Hubby is bringing home takeout from our favorite Thai restaurant, and then we will probably watch some more of the movie we've been watching, a 6-hour BBC production of Jane Eyre.

Oh, my mom also gave Baby Boy his first haircut when she was here. I miss the curls, but he looks so handsome and grown up! I will try to post a picture later.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday, my parents, brother, and grandma came to our house and celebrated Baby Boy's first birthday with us. Here is a picture of Baby Boy diving into his birthday cake (gingerbread with real whipped cream on top):

 

And here he is testing out one of his presents, a little Radio Flyer push-wagon to help him learn how to walk:

 

Sorry I haven't posted lately; I have been under the weather with a bad cold. I am on the mend.

Please may I take a bath, Mama?

 

Yesterday, I turned on the bathtub faucet to run some water for Baby Boy's bath. He was at the opposite end of the house in the living room. Within thirty seconds, he crawled all the way down the hallway, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom. Then he quickly pulled himself up on the bathtub and began making all sorts of squawks and squeaks to show me that he was very excited and wanted to get in that water and play!

Graphic from allposters.com.

Curiosity

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22 and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. 25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’” Deuteronomy 6:20-25, NKJV

Children are curious. God makes them that way to help them learn. I see it every day in Baby Boy when he confidently approaches and masters a new challenge, whether pulling himself up on the couch to reach a desired object; opening the drawer under the oven and methodically taking out each pot, pan, and lid; or super-crawling down the hallway, giggling all the way, when he sees that the office door is open (there are so many fun things to grab and explore in there!).

What a privilege it is to pass on knowledge, skills, and spiritual truths to our children. I want to live according to the Word, so that when my children observe my life and ask why I do things a certain way, I will not be ashamed, and I can take the opportunity to point them to God. I look forward to sharing stories of God’s provision and guidance with my children. I want to help them see how He is working in their own lives every day.

Graphic from art.com.

Giveaway

This week, Crystal at Biblical Womanhood is giving away a $25 gift certificate to Vision Forum, as well as 5 CDs from her own store. For more information, go here.

Saving Our Pennies

My husband and I went over our budget tonight and we have decided to start saving toward a down payment for a house. It will probably be several years before we have any significant amount put away, but you have to start somewhere. The first step we are taking is to cut our grocery budget. I am going to try to get all our groceries for $50 a week. The cost of living in our area is pretty high, and food isn't cheap, so I am going to have to get creative. I am still trying to follow the principles of the South Beach Diet, so that that makes things even more challenging, as I'm trying to stay away from starches, which are the cheapest foods! What I have been trying to do is only have one grain a day, so maybe I will save it for dinner so I can eat "normal" dinners, such as chicken-and-rice casserole, tuna-noodle casserole, etc. However, I did just get The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer cookbook from the library, and haven't had a chance to peruse it yet. Maybe I'll get some good ideas there. My one splurge will be raw milk for Baby Boy, as I really feel the nutritional benefits are worth the cost. It is--YIKES!--$7 a gallon. So my total grocery budget will actually be $57 a week, as soon as I start Baby Boy on raw milk. I still want to continue nursing him for a while, but I want to wean him very gradually, so I may start substituting cow's milk for one nursing session a day pretty soon.

Haircut

I got my hair cut this weekend. I had had long hair for several years, and I was ready for a change, partly because of the heat lately, partly because Baby Boy likes to pull hair, and partly just for fun. Here's a pic:

 

I got to watch Baby Boy stand up all by himself in his crib today. I heard him babbling to himself after waking up from his nap, so I quietly opened his bedroom door. He didn't see me poke my head in. He was sitting up, and then he grabbed hold of the crib bar and pulled himself up and started chewing on the bar! It was so cute! Eventually, he noticed I was standing there, and he smiled, like, oh, you caught me, Mama. :-)

Not too bad for $19.30

 

I had a fairly successful couponing trip to Walgreens today. I got these products for a total of $19.30:

3 25.4-oz. Pantene shampoo+conditioners
3 25.4-oz. Pantene conditioners
3 12-oz. Herbal Essence products
1 13.5-oz. Aussie conditioner
1 6-oz. Aussie mousse
3 16-oz. Infusium23 products
1 Venus Divine razor system
2 15-pack Gillette disposable razors
1 2.6-oz. Secret deodorant
1 Oral-B Indicator toothbrush

The total retail value of these products is $96.37, so I had a savings of $77.07. I know that is a good deal, but I had been hoping for an even better one. I had talked to the manager earlier in the day, and he told me that the Walgreens registers were printing out $16 worth (a $10, $4, and $2) of Register Rewards (which can be used like cash) for every $20 transaction on select items, as listed in the Walgreens advertisement. So I thought I would get everything for around $1. But when I went to Walgreens this evening, the registers were only printing a $10 coupon for every $20 transaction. I bought everything anyway, because I had a tired Baby Boy with me and needed to get home. To get this price, I used a combination of manufacturer's coupons (I had several buy one, get one free) and Register Rewards.

A Day at the Park

 
 

Crawling

Baby Boy has finally (at 10 1/2 months) started to crawl. He is quite pleased with himself and spent quite a bit of time today chasing after some balls with bells and rattles inside. Before now, he would roll to get where he wanted to go, or scoot on his back. But I think he likes going forward. It's more efficient. ;-)

Crocheter's Lament

I have been wanting to learn how to knit solely so I can make a few of these adorable wool soakers for Baby Boy. So I bravely took knitting needles and yarn in hand, and...found out that knitting is (to me) way more complicated than crochet. Not only is it way slower, but it's hard to insert the needles exactly where I want them and the yarn keeps sliding off the hook-less needle ends and I keep dropping stitches or adding stitches or twisting stitches...you get the idea. With crochet, when you mess a stitch up, you just slip it off the hook, give the yarn a tug, and you're good to start over again. With knitting, it's not the simple. I E-mailed the designer of the soaker patterns I linked to above and asked if she would be coming out with a crochet version any time soon; her response was a definite no. I know there are crocheted soaker patterns out there, but none of them are as cute as the Little Turtle Knits patterns. I'm fairly crafty and it's usually not too hard for me to get the hang of a new skill, but I've given knitting more than a fair shot and I'm thisclose to giving up on it.

In other news, it's been HOT here--around 100 degrees. We don't have air conditioning...well, we do have a small unit, but we can't use it...mainly because in the complex we live in, you're not allowed to install air conditioners in any windows visible from the street. Our air conditioner is only strong enough to cool a small room, like a bedroom, and since our bedroom windows face the street, we're out of luck. Annoying regulations. :-P We've been opening up all the windows until around 10 A.M., then shutting up the house and even closing the blinds to keep the heat and sun out until late evening. It's been working all right, but things are still pretty sticky around here. Baby Boy is sleeping in just a diaper.

We're having transmission problems with our car again, so Hubby has been taking public transportation to work, and I've been walking everywhere I need to go (which isn't really much of a change for me, since I don't have the car during the day anyway). Early this morning, before it got too hot, Baby Boy and I walked about a mile to the nearest grocery store and came home with six bags of groceries hanging from the stroller handles! Baby Boy sometimes gets bored when we're shopping, especially because I like to compare prices and use coupons, so I'm not a very fast shopper. I got a store advertisement and kept giving pages of it to Baby Boy, who had a blast tearing them in pieces the whole time we were in the store (I picked up all the pieces, of course!). I do hope we get our car fixed soon, though. The transmission is still under warranty from when we had to have it fixed last Christmas, but the problem is that the shop is a 90-minute drive from where we live (we broke down halfway to my parents' house last Christmas Eve). So now we have to figure out if it's cheaper to have it towed all that way and get it repaired for free, or just pay someone in town to do it.

I want to go to a fabric store to pick out some fabric for some nursing dresses, but it's too far away to walk, and it would take too long to get to via public transportation, so I'll have to wait until the car is fixed. I don't really know how to sew (I made a few articles of clothing in high school with help from my mom), but I'm planning to learn. Hopefully, that will be more successful than my experience with knitting. I ordered this nursing dress pattern from Elizabeth Lee.

Busy Weekend

Wow, this weekend was very busy and stressful at times. I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, and I had to try to balance being "there for" and helpful to her with still caring for my family, especially my still-nursing baby who will only nurse lying down. Hubby and I planned out a schedule of who was to be at the church when (he was helping with some wedding preparations as well), when Baby Boy would take his naps, when I would be home to nurse him, etc., but things didn't go as we expected. For example, we had planned that I would get to the church and dress in time for pictures, do the pictures, drive the 20 minutes back to my parents' house where Baby Boy was napping, nurse him, and then we would all come back to the church in time for the wedding. Well, as it turned out, the pictures were two hours late in starting, and I had the car with the carseat with me at church, so one of the kitchen helpers had to drive all the way out to my parents' in our car (with the carseat) while we were doing pictures, get Baby Boy for me, and bring him back the church. Then I tried to nurse him in a rocking chair in the nursery, but as I said, he only wants to nurse lying down. And then, because Baby Boy didn't nurse, I leaked breastmilk on my outfit during the reception. Grrr. I am happy my friend is happily married, but I am really glad to be home. Traveling with a baby is hard work!

This Weekend

This weekend I helped a friend who is getting married next week (7-7-07, which I've heard is one of the most popular wedding dates ever) make dozens and dozens of cookies for her reception. I am to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was fun to see my old friends from back home.

This morning, I met with some friends for prayer and Bible study. We just started going through a book on the names of God. It has been good for me to get back into the habit of spending time alone with the Lord every day. Hubby and I read together out of a one-year Bible every morning, but I am better at really listening to the Lord and meditating on His Word when I take some time on my own, as well.

I am thinking of doing a "day in the life of me" post sometime soon....I haven't known where our digital camera was since we moved, but Hubby informed me recently that he's known where it was all along! :-) I'm also considering doing pictures of a week in skirts, like I know some ladies have done on their blogs before. I do wear pants sometimes, but I really prefer to wear skirts, as I feel much prettier and more feminine, and it seems like I get more done (same goes for wearing an apron...).

I have lost around 8 pounds so far on the South Beach Diet in the week-and-a-half that I've been on it. I'm feeling really good.