At Home My Way

Remember the Strong Man Quilt I made for my niece?  Well, I was right.  Her baby is a strong little man!   This strong little baby decided to make his grand entrance into the world six weeks early. The baby arrived at a wopping 3lb 8 ounces and 17 inches long.  Tiny but healthy! The little booger is strong as an ox! The hospital said they usually keep babies until they are 5 pounds, but this little baby needed nothing from them so they sent him home.   The only thing this little guy really needed  at home was that he had to wear hats to keep his body warm.  My niece commented one day that she only had one hat and that she needed to wash it.  I told her "You needed only to tell me that!  Aunt Gigi and her crochet hook to the rescue!"   Overnight I was able to crochet for him four little hats of various patterns.   I made one like a football (Just a simple double crochet beanie changing colors for the white str...

Years ago, I was a big time reader Taste of Home magazines.  I read them cover to cover and gleaned many wonderful tips and recipes from them.  There were always cute and funny pictures, comments, and memories shared back in the day (before Taste of Home changed to its more recent, more professional format).  It was in one of those magazines that someone shared a picture of their apple pie smiling.  So, being a mom of two little girls, the next time I made an apple pie, I made cuts in the crust to make my own smiling apple pie.  I never made an apple pie after that without giving her a smile. My girls are both now grown.  They can make their own pies in their own kitchens, but once in a while I get to spoil them.  A couple of weeks ago, my college daughter was home and I baked a whole smiling apple pie for her to take back to Kansas City and share with her boyfriend.  She was thrilled!  And just as it was coming out of the oven, my olde...

So... yesterday I posted a recipe for Homemade Tomato Soup .  And you gotta have crackers with tomato soup, right? YUP! This weekend I also tackled my first batch of homemade crackers.  Crackers are one of those "bucket list" recipes for me that not everyone would think to make at home, but I really wanted to try them.  I found my recipe on a favorite, one of the most informative sites ever- The Prudent Homemaker .  This site is a wealth of information for making everything homemade and for all kinds of tips on how to save the hard to earned buck.  I encourage everyone to hope over there and check it out! I was very pleased with the crackers.  They will be a terrific base recipe for adding all kinds of seasonings, oils, cheeses. I made Brandy's basic recipe and added my own twist on seasonings, a little salt, etc.  They turned out GREAT!  The key is to roll them absolutely as thinly as possible.  Note that they don't rise so very li...

This week I had a powerful craving for tomato soup!  Mmmm... I love the stuff. Being the eccentric little cooker that I am, I - OF COURSE -wanted to try my hand at homemade!  Surely my ingredients would be simpler and better for me than these (which are found on canned tomato soup)! INGREDIENTS TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, FLAVORING, CITRIC ACID, LOWER SODIUM NATURAL SEA SALT, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), MONOPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE. I searched around and found several variations of "copycat" tomato soup recipes.  Most called for canned tomatoes, some called for tomato paste, some even called for chicken broth.  My favorite canned soup had no chicken broth in it!  So, I kept looking. I ran across a recipe found on a blog that is new to me but which I LOVE called "Produce on Parade".  Lots of good recipes!  And vegan recipes at that!  I'm always on the lookout f...

It's apple season here in mid Missouri!  Nothing like fresh apples from the tree.   I grew up near orange groves and had never seen an apple tree until my family moved to Missouri so I still find it somewhat magical to see those ruby red orbs taunting me from the trees! One of my favorite ways to eat apples is sliced and dipped heavily in caramel!  Caramel apples on a stick are wonderful in their own rite but those things are hard on the teeth!  This is a much easier way to enjoy a fall favorite. I had long heard of making homemade caramel sauce with sweetened condensed milk by boiling the cans in water-which I couldn't believe!  #1-sounded dangerous - boiling unopened cans-NOPE, not for me!  #2-sweetened condensed milk tastes nothing like caramel, right?  (Wrong LOL!)   I decided to give her a whirl and see what I could come up with.   I didn't like the idea of boiling an unopened can of something in water on my stove.  No way!!...