Anticipation...

Soon... Gertrude will look like this...

This morning, I see teeny weeny little shoots of new growth on her... I can hardly wait... she truly is the beauty of my gardens... (photo from last years garden... Miss "Gertrude Jekyll")... Spring is on it's way!... xoxo...

"Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen" in Centerville, Utah...

How's that for a title?... I have posted before about some of my very favorite vintage cookbooks, and some of my favorite recipes from them... I also have a number of favorite newer cookbooks... One of those is "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen" by country music star Trisha Yearwood... (Mrs. Garth Brooks)... I have always liked her... she is so pretty, down to earth and such a talented singer... she is also a fabulous cook... so when her cookbook came out in 2008, I knew I would love it...

Her book is chock full of down~home recipes from her roots in Georgia... she lives in Oklahoma now with Garth... this delightful cookbook is full of oh~so yummy family favorite dishes!... so, c'mon inside my own kitchen and I'll show you what I am making today...

I love to cook and bake from scratch, and I love really easy recipes that are no~fail... I also love "comfort food" and what is more comforting than homemade macaroni and cheese?... when I make things from scratch, I know there are no yucky ingredients in them... you know, those nasty preservatives and such that you can't even say, let alone spell... and homemade just tastes the best!... plus, cooking from scratch is fun!... I fix a homecooked meal every night of the week for Jack and I... once in a blue moon we go out to eat, but rarely... it is so nice and peaceful eating at home... Jack and I both crave peace and quiet... and the pleasure of enjoying a tasty meal together at our own kitchen table... (with a cute little doggie sitting close by of course!)... Jack constantly raves about my home~cooking, which of course makes me so happy, and want to cook for him even more... I think the word "comfort food" came from just that... the comfort you enjoy while sharing it with those you love...

There is just a certain satisfaction from getting all of your own ingredients ready and starting from scratch...

So, here's the recipe... first off, start your macaroni noodles boiling... use a one pound bag of elbow macaroni and boil until tender approx 12 minutes...

Drain well...

Make the sauce while the macaroni is cooking... Melt 4T butter in a 1 qt saucepan. Using a wire whisk, stir in 4T all~purpose flour and 1 tsp salt, stirring and cooking over medium heat until the roux bubbles and the flour turns pale brown, about 3 minutes... remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk. Return the pan to the heat and whisk in 1 more cup of milk. Continue to cook stirring constantly until the sauce thickens... Add 2 cups grated cheese (I use medium cheddar) and stir until it melts...

Add the drained macaroni to the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly...

In a small bowl, stir 1/2 cup bread crumbs together with 1/4 cup melted butter until the crumbs are moistened... I use organic croutons that I have crushed with a rolling pin to make the crumbs...


Transfer the macaroni and cheese to a buttered 2 qt casserole dish, top with the buttered breadcrumbs and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until the dish bubbles around the edges...

Just plain good old home~cookin'... our favorite... yum!... xoxo...

Old Garden Tools...

I am a keeper... well, I don't mean me... although I do hope Jack thinks so... I kinda think he does after 35 years together... anyway, I meant I am a keeper of things... I have always taken really good care of anything I own, and so does Jack... we don't buy new things just to buy them if the old ones are still working... (***disclaimer here!... purses are the exception!)... so I was amused to read in my newest copy of "Flea Market Gardens" magazine that one of the hottest new collectibles is vintage garden hose nozzles... I had to laugh to myself... I never thought of my hose nozzles as collectibles before... they are just my old nozzles... had them for years... use them all the time when I am watering... they are the only nozzles I own... we are strictly on untreated irrigation water for gardens here in my little town so the tips get a bit of a buildup on them... I like how they look... it tells me how hard they have worked over the years... I would never part with them...

Here is the article from "Flea Market Gardens"... it says that most collectible nozzles are still in working condition... I can attest to that!... it also said most were made out of heavy brass and either made in Europe or the USA... mine are really heavy brass... and made in the good old US of A...

The only difference is, mine will not be on display on a shelf like in the magazine... mine will be out on a hose in my gardens... I posted previously that I water all of my gardens by hand... there is a certain feeling of serenity that comes with leisurely watering my gardens... the old~fashioned way... not with a sprinkler system... my "sprinkler system" is the old silver sprinkler in the front of the nozzles...

My garden claws and trowels and such are all old too... mostly metal with wooden handles... here are just a few of my favorites...

Working their little hearts out in my gardens... year after year... we have spent many a Summers day together over the years...

And I love that they were made in the USA...

That still means alot to me... xoxo...

A Gardeners Thoughts on Spring...

Are you a passionate gardener, like me?... if so, then you can hardly wait for Spring to arrive!...

Those first Spring days when the welcome sunlight seems to just be pouring upon you... and even though the ground is still quite cold, the feel of it on your bare feet as you stroll through your flowerbeds is quite intoxicating to say the least... Spring is a time of renewal and rebirth... I anxiously check my gardens for any teeny little sign of green... do you do that too?... I have my wish~list ready to take to the garden center down the lane which will open soon... I wait in giddy anticipation for their sign to be out that reads "We have Pansies"... the owner always tells me I am his very first customer of the season... and helps me carry my pots of pansies and heartsease to my car... he knows me well... he should... I spend many a Spring and Summers day lingering in his rows and rows of flowers... each one calling out my name... and most times I answer their call by buying them and taking them home...

Did you inherit your love of gardening... or did you acquire that love over the years?... I inherited my love of gardening... I come from a long line of gardeners... my mama tended to our abundant flowerbeds and her luscious rose gardens while daddy took care of our lawns and our many fruit trees... my grandparents on my mama's side of the family had a large country home where most of mama's roses came from, teeny little starts mama planted under old fruit jars, creating mini greenhouses filled with mist... I picture in my mind my grandpa standing out watering his gardens by hand... he loved to water this way, and to this day, I don't have sprinkler systems in my gardens... I water them all by hand... and as I do so, I know my grandpa is probably right there beside me... there was a pretty little irrigation ditch in my grandparents back yard that flowed gently in the Spring and Summertime... we kids would wade barefoot in it... squealing with excitement when a little water snake would wiggle by... wildflowers bloomed profusely along the banks of the little ditch... my grandmother would holler out "don't pick the Pee the Beds"!... and we would giggle when she said that... "Pee the Beds" are dandelions... and their being called that came from old French and English folk names that meant just that... grandmother held onto the old~fashioned belief that if you picked them, you would wet the bed that night... not wanting to chance anything, we never picked them...

My grandmother and great~grandmother on my daddy's side of the family had a beautiful little cottage garden in their backyard in Santa Fe... there, old~fashioned flowers of every kind imaginable bloomed in wild abandon... it was here that I tagged along with my grandmothers... asking question after question about all of the flowers, eager to know their names... and why they were called what they were... and my grandmothers were most obliging to this curious little granddaughter of theirs... my great~grandmother telling me stories about why foxgloves were named that because the sly little foxes would put the flowers on their hands so as to quietly sneak into the chicken coop... I can just hear my little great~grandmother scolding those naughty little foxes!... towering hollyhocks grew alongside the old gravel driveway back to the garage... it was from those beautiful flowers we made hollyhock dolls...

I always plant special flowers for my loved ones who are no longer here... although, I do know they are always close by my side and always in my heart... roses for my mama, sweet williams for my daddy, (his favorite)... periwinkle (or creeping myrtle) for my grandmother named Myrtle... delphiniums for my grandmother Delphine and cosmos for my great~grandmother Sara as they were her favorites... I feel very blessed to have been given the gifts I have been given in my life from these precious family members... the gift of my love of gardening and for all of Nature and God's precious little creatures... the two go hand in hand... I don't just grow flowers... I grow memories... and love... xoxo...

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,

the song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
than anywhere else on earth"
~ Dorothy Frances Gurney 1858~1932

Be Mine...

Wishing you a beautiful day filled with everything your heart desires...

Happy Valentines Day... xoxo...

You're Lookin' at Country....

Some years back, there was a cute Loretta Lynn song called "If You're Lookin' at Me, You're Lookin' at Country"... that could be my song as well... I post often about my little rural town and my love of the country life... the only way of life I have ever known... and the only way of life I want to live... for many years, Jack and I travelled alot and visited some of the big cities with bright lights and huge freeways everywhere... and they just are not us... I'll trade those bright lights for fireflies anytime... and I will always choose a country dirt road over a paved one... I would love to travel our beautiful country one day, taking the back roads of course, and visiting once more the heartland I saw as a child on family vacations, the small rural towns that dot the countrysides, the prairies in full bloom, and fields and fields of tall corn and sunflowers... I carry those beautiful memories from when I was a little girl in my mind and in my heart... there are still many such places to see right here in my own countryside... I love my little town... and yes, it has grown some over the years... but the small~town country atmosphere does not change... Salt Lake City is only about 20 minutes to the south of us, yet we rarely go there now that we are retired... we both spent our entire careers in Salt Lake at the police department, Jack as a police officer and me in the records division... and I was so happy always to leave the city at the end of the day and head back out to the country... when we do go into town, everyone in my family always says how happy we are to come around the bend of the mountains as we enter our peaceful little valley... the difference is like night and day... below is my favorite photo I think I have ever taken... I joined a fun blog party several years ago called "Barn Chicks", and as I flung my levi jacket over the old fencepost to photograph the barn in the background, I snapped a shot of the old sagging fence with my jacket on it as well... the fields full of wildflowers and our beautiful foothills in the background... this bucolic scene is a mere five minutes walk from my home... this is the country life I so love...

Everywhere you look these days, there are magazines and books about the country life, the prairie life, farmhouses, barns... hey!... I love all of these things... and I love to write... and I love to photograph... why don't "I" write a book???... I am seriously thinking of doing so... I would use my favorite photo above on the cover...
I certainly have the most beautiful countryside to photograph... and these places are real... still working farms... not staged for a photo op...

Jack wants the old Model A to restore... I would love to be able to buy it for him...

Maybe with all of the money I make selling my book???... it would cost an absolute mint to restore it... but soo worth it!... sigh... I can dream... and I shall... about Jack and the little Model A...

Looks like this is right out of a magazine huh?... nope, it is about five minutes away from my home as well...

Oooh the stories these could tell... these are not shops... these are peoples farms... I always ask permission to photograph... well, usually... I mean, most of the time... some of the time???... honestly, I DO ask... and most often the folks are friendly and happy to chat with me as I photograph... sometimes, I will take a copy of a photo back to them... as a thank~you of sorts... (just hope there are no angry bulls lurking around when no one is home to ask!)...

Shabby Heaven...

This one is too cute!...

These two tractors are parked on the main drag in the little town of Farmington where my sister and her family lives... Farmington adjoins my little town of Centerville to the north... I was hoping to meet the two farmers who drove them here... I call it "lunch in the big city"... tee hee hee... so what do you think?... will you visit me on my book~signing tour???... xoxo...

One Can Never Have Too Many...

Beautiful wire baskets full of vintage doilies... or fruit jars prettied up with vintage lace...

Or birdnests with teeny little eggs nestled inside... and shabby old tins...

That are just the right size for a new miniature rose...

Or too many wishes for warmer days to arrive... Spring... where are you?... xoxo...

"Nothin' Says Lovin"...

"Like somethin' from the oven"... I love to bake from scratch... that way, I know that what we eat is healthy and good for us... no yucky preservatives or chemicals... no icky additives or artificial anything that you can't even pronounce the names of... plus, homebaked just tastes sooo much better too!...

I always grab my favorite apron... a vintage Layton Sugar Company sugar sack turned into a beautiful apron by my friend Kelly at Farmstead Lifestyle I ordered last year... Kelly bought the old, old sacks at a flea market back east some years ago where she lives and decided they would make cute aprons... when I saw it on her blog, I had to have one, as the old Layton Sugar Company was just a mere ten minutes drive to the north of me... I did some research for Kelly about the company and it turns out the sugar beet seeds and heavy equipment arrived by riverboat in Leavenworth, Kansas... the same little town she had a cafe in at the time, then carried by 52 ox teams across the plains to Utah... I love what Kelly had to say about this, that my little sugar sack, now a beautiful apron, had come full circle!... below is a photo of the old sugar company circa 1936... so sad, no longer standing... (photo graciously sent to me by the Utah State Historical Society)...


Just like most everything else I love, I cherish my old family cookbooks...

The one I reach for most often is the very same one my mama did her entire life, the old blue "Joy of Cooking"... I have the newer versions as well... but my heart always leads me to the old tattered one... the one with little notes handwritten in it here and there... and pages stained with perchance a drop of vanilla or a bit of butter many many years ago... making it all the more priceless to me...

Today, I am baking my favorite muffins, plain and simple but oh!... so delicious!... especially with some Prairie honey on them, or my homemade black raspberry jam from last Summer... there are many variations you can make from the basic recipe, but today the rich goodness of a plain muffin sounds delightful... my favorite vintage muffin tin and I am ready to go!...

Here's the recipe exactly as it was written so many years ago:

Sift before measuring:
2 cups cake flour or 1 3/4 cups bread flour
Resift with:
3/4 teaspoon tartrate or phosphate baking powder
Beat in a separate bowl:
2 eggs
Combine and add:
2 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 cup milk

Stir the liquid quickly into the dry ingredients, taking only 15 to 20 seconds in which to do it. Make no attempt to stir or beat out the lumps. Ignore them. Unnecessary handling of the batter results in tough muffins. Pour the batter at once into greased tins or paper baking cups. Fill them to about 1/3 full. Bake the muffins from 15 to 20 minutes in a hot oven 425 degrees. Remove them at once from the tins. Makes about 24 two inch muffins.

Now, go bake some lovin' from the oven and have a most beautiful day!... xoxo...

Are You Confused About What Steps to Take With Your Followers???...

There is sooo much confusion and mis~information out there about Blogger Followers going away... it is NOT... please visit my previous post and wish sweet Tessy a Happy Birthday today, and I have also attached some info right from Blogger regarding the changes...

I think it will clear things up... also, I have attached "Linky" on my sidebar for those who do not use Blogger, ie, Typepad, etc, to follow me on... it seems to be the easiest, simplest and most user~friendly... and you don't have to lose your Blogger Followers by adding Linky... you can follow through both... it also does not post your personal info all over the blogosphere...where you will if you change to Google+ ...the previous post pretty much answers all questions... xoxo...