Mom's Recipe- the best, of course, I've ever had. It is soft and delicious-- not the crunchy kind, which has its place.
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 cube margarine (I use butter)
1/2 c. Karo syrup (light)
1/4 c. water
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
Cook to soft ball stage (I drop small amount in cold water to cool quickly and see if it is the consistency I'd like). Add 1/4 tsp soda. Beat and pour over popcorn (I use 2/3 c. kernels of corn)
Grandma Wee Wee on the Left, Cory's mom Liz on the Right.
We Stayed with Grandma last weekend. Her real name is Eva Ruth Billman. She is a lot of fun and has so much to teach us!
Grandma's Spices
11-12-10
I had Grandma Wee Wee give me a tour of her home today, and teach me how she organizes her things. It was very enlightening! I don’t think there are many people who could just open up all their drawers and cupboards for a person at a moment’s notice.
I took notes as we went, and here are some of the things I gained:
”I am a box and bin person” she said, opening a kitchen cupboard. She had several small Tupperware containers labeled with spices. They stacked neatly and it was easy to see the contents of each. I asked her if she bought her spices in bulk, because they were larger containers than the ones that spices come in now. She said she did and there was a place in Washington you could get a big container of Cinnamon for $5. I asked about Tupperware being an investment. She said it was at the time but that she waited until they could afford it and then bought it, and she has used them ever since.
Homemade Drawer Dividers
She showed me her kitchen drawers. She made dividers in them by glueing strips of wood in the front and back and then sliding a piece of Masonite down between the strips. It’s easy to take out and clean and it’s sturdy.
Under her kitchen sink she built a little shelf so that she would use the vertical space more efficiently. It was covered in linoleum for easy cleaning. She attached a lid holder to the cupboard door and it had scrubbies and toothbrushes in it for easy access to clean the sink/stove.
Her pan drawers were deep, with several low, big boxes that were labeled so that she could pull out what she needed (Her homemade slide out drawers)
Another cupboard has Tupperware with all kinds of dry goods—spaghetti, Bisquick mix, Graham Crackers, Chocolate Chips, etc. She said many of these products are in the garage in buckets, and she will go out and refill the smaller Tupperware containers as needed. It looked very neat and tidy, like the spice cabinet.
Another cupboard had boxes which had been covered with Contact Paper. These were open on the top and held her magazines, cookbooks, and patterns.
In her dish cupboard she pointed out there was nothing old or broken. She just kept the functional stuff.
Egg Container in Fridge
She sections her fridge into containers...
Of course a shoe rack as well as shoe shelves she built, to the left.
She built this shelf and added hooks underneath for storing her necklaces.
I pulled out some of her sewing trims wrapped around cardboard. Awesome.
Buttons and small notions, all labeled.
Craft paint, labeled and sectioned in a drawer according to hue
these are the yellows
Scrapbooks through the years-- she uses parts of cards to decorate the pages.
Scrapbooking Supplies
Cute House :)
Definitely a homey, Grandma's house feeling here!
Fuzzy picture of her family birthday calendar
Her sock drawer is divided with cardboard which has been hot glued to the inside of the drawer. She does this with many drawers!
Canned goods on rolling shelves
Home canned goods in shelves built to certain heights for jars.
So, here are some ideas to chew on. She's fabulous. Most of her organizing methods are not expensive, as she is one of those great children from the depression. But they work and they have served her well for many years. She inspires me to be better and take care of the home I've been given.
When we lived in Montana, I bought 8 fifty pound bags of wheat. We brought them all with us and have put them in our pantry and our extra freezer. They have taken up so much space in our little house!
So, I found out about this trailer that travels through our Stake which has equipment in it to dry pack your own stuff. You can bring your own #10 cans to refill, or they have lots of them from the local schools.
Cory and Nathan and I went today and canned all of this wheat, and it was pretty cool.
First, you reflange the top of your can with one machine, then you fill it and put an oxygen absorber packet in, then you put the lid on with another machine, then you label (that was Nathan's job-- to put the stickers on).
So now most of this wheat is in the shed and not all over my house, and I'm really glad about that....
I wish I would have taken pictures-- I might go out later to the nice lady's house who helped us and take some. I'm grateful our Stake has such a cool resource.
Grease bundt pan really really well. place frozen rolls in pan. Sprinkle with pudding, sugar, and cinnamon. Melt butter and pour over it all. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and put in oven. Let rise overnight. Remove covering, turn oven to 350, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn out on a plate.
I have a family of 6 who could easily eat a double batch of this. Next time I'm going to try it in a 9X13 pan and make more.
