Blueberry Muffins

When I asked Dad what he was doing for Father's Day he said he was coming over to my house for a cup of coffee and to read the Sunday newspaper. I immediately thought these Blueberry Muffins would be a perfect treat sprinkled with love.

The Psychomotor Theory of Sewing

Adorable dresses Mom made for me and

my sister, Carol.

I have been sewing since I was 5 years old. OMG! I just did the math and that's been almost 50 years! I remember sitting on the floor in the sewing room with my mom's old machine and operating the foot peddle with my knee as she made clothes on her new Singer. I have always loved to sew and by the time I was in 5th grade I could make clothing without a pattern. I attended 10 schools in 12 years in four different states. (I know, right?) When I was older I always found comfort in the Home ec class. That is where I could show my talents in sewing and cooking as the teachers asked me to help other students. So, it was only natural that I would become a home ec teacher.
I believe that creativity can have a  psychological impact on a person. I remember the only time I could hear a pin drop in the 9th grade comprehensive class was during the sewing unit when I taught counted cross stitch. All of the boys and girls enjoyed creating their very own project. They got lost in the rhythm of counting  stitches and the push and pull of the needle. They would beg me to let them take their project to study hall and often students would come back to class during the day to get more floss.
I once wrote a grant and included this about the psychomotor theory:

Since stress is stored in the senses, one method of stress management can be achieved 

through the psychomotor processes of creative, hands-on activities. Professionals have recently 

identified the craft of scrapbooking as therapeutic as it offers a way to cope with hardships.  

I do believe that sewing and other craft activities provide a way to get your mind off your worries and decompress. If you can be mindful during any activity that brings you peace and contentment then you should find time to repeat the activity as often as possible. It's good for you!

Recession Fabulous

Lost Art of Sewing Comes Back

Soaring Sales of Sewing Machines

Altered by a Sewing Machine

Almost Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

This is the spaghetti sauce we've been making for years and would never change this recipe now that
it's perfected. We make a large batch in the crock pot and then freeze in quart zip lock bags.

2 pounds ground beef
Large onion, chopped

1 tsp fresh garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 large can mushrooms, sliced

3-6 Tbsp Brown sugar

3 - 24 ounce jars Ragu Robust
A pinch of Love

Brown ground beef with onion and seasoning. Place all ingredients in crock pot. Add brown sugar, starting with 3 Tbsp. Slow-cook for 4 – 6 hours. Check flavor, add more brown sugar if preferred.  Use enough sauce for dinner. Cool, then freeze remaining sauce in quart Ziploc freezer bags.

The Lost White Coconut Cake Recipe

Gramsy wrote two memoirs; one about her life and one of her husband's, Grandpa Ray Landon. On the first page of One Life to Remember she mentioned a "white coconut cake" that my great-grandma Laura Travis Landon was known for among other fine food she prepared.

Harry (Henry) Landon & Laura Travis
married April 9, 1893

This is an excerpt: Laura, my mother, born December 25, 1870, was the daughter of John and Mary Travis. She had two brothers, William and John. William was married, but never had children. John was a renowned mathematics professor and never married. Laura was a popular, fun loving young lady and a fine seamstress and tailor. Many hired her to do sewing for them. She did not make money with her cooking,  but she well could have. Her white coconut cakes you might say played a big part in her fortune by helping to win a husband.

Her's was the most attractive and just about the largest of all the boxes that were piled on the table at the big Spring Box Social. Harry Landon had made up his mind to do his bidding on it, going above several others who had their eye on it, too.

The chicken sandwiches were mighty good, but that coconut cake was "out of this world." Not only did he enjoy the food, he found Laura's company very enjoyable.

I was so intrigued about this white cake and asked several relatives, but it seemed that with all of Harry and Laura's children gone, so was the recipe.

Fast forward about 122 years. I found a family White Coconut Cake recipe from my husband's Grandma Hickman and another from something his mother, Agnes Dye. typed up in 1976. At the bottom she added, "I only make this cake when we are having company, or to take someplace because it is so good. It is very moist and rich and has a delicious flavor. One piece is never enough, it's so good you always want another."

I would like to be known for making something so incredible. Maybe it will be this White Coconut Cake.

White Chocolate Cake
1 cup margarine, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla or almond
4 oz, milted white chocolate
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ cups cake flour
1cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

Beat egg white, set aside
Cream margarine & sugar until creamy. Beat in egg yolks.
Add vanilla and white chocolate, mix well
Add baking powder to flour. then add alternately with buttermilk.
Fold in beaten egg whites, pecans and coconut.
Pour into greased and floured 9 X 13 pan.
Bake 350 for 50 - 60 minutes. test with toothpick.

Icing
2 cups sugar
1 small can evaporated milk
1 ½ stick margarine
1 Tbsp white corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla or almond

Ada's Scalloped Apples

1 qt. Tart apples, peeled, sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 to 1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup water or apple juice

Mix apples,sugar, raisins, corn starch, and nutmeg. Place in buttered baking dish. Pour liquid over apples. Add a few pats of butter on top of apples. Cover and bake slowly until apples are tender at 300-325 for 35 minutes. Uncover to brown slightly.

Vada's Pretzel Salad

I found this recipe in Vada's file box when we visited during Easter. But most of the Landon Family will remember this being a popular dessert made by our beloved Aunt Barbara.

2-2/3 cups of crushed, salted pretzels (9 oz bag)
1-1/2 sticks margarine, melted
4 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 medium container Cool Whip
one - 6 oz and one 3 ounce pack of strawberry jello
4 cups boiling water
10 oz pack frozen strawberries, sliced

Combine crushed pretzels, melted margarine and sugar. Place in 9x13 pan, bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Let cool. 

Mix cream cheese ( softened) and sugar until smooth. Fold in container Cool whip. Spread over pretzels.

Mix both packages of strawberry jello with 4 cups boiling water. Add one 10 oz package of frozen sliced strawberries. Let this cool until it begins to thicken. Spread on top of cream cheese layer. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Fritter Batter

1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp Crisco, melted
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Apple fritters. Core and thinly slice apples. Dip in batter, fry in skillet of hot crisco.
Corn fritter. Use less milk. Add  can of creamed corn to batter. Fry in crisco.