I'm back and I'm at it again! So, no store to sell wares... whatever shall I do with my time? DECORATE! REDECORATE! JUST GENERALLY CREATE!
The Homemaker has left the buildings... the merchantile, the house and is now taking on
The Great Outdoors!
We were watering weeds. Really? (totally different post) That just needed to stop. The city is putting in meters and while I completely agree with supporting my community, I'd rather donate to a cause than to pay for wasted precious resources like H2O. However, I can't just have a giant patch of dirt. That would be dumb. And a flood hazard since our soil isn't really soil, its more like playdough that has been left with the lid off. No absorption properties whatsoever and hard as a rock.
I know! A POOL!
Yeah, that's gonna cost ya. No pool? Crud. Maybe next year... or the decade after that. (the plans are dated July 5, 2007)
Have I mentioned I love all things Susan Branch? My wonderful Aunt Sharon, who went on ahead of us to share her beaming personality with God several years back, introduced me to Susan Branch's line of cookbooks. A few years ago, Cap'n Jack (Lt. Dan got a promotion! yip yip hooray!) and I were in Cambria, CA at "Antiques on Main" (what a fun shop! 3 stories of non-stop antiquing heaven!) and I caught a glimpse of that wonderful watercolor-looking art I know and love sitting on a shelf! It was a perpetual daytimer! "Days from the Heart of the Home". (By the way, I am the mouse in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"... I just stopped all that I was doing to go find the Susan Branch website and "liked" it on FB!) Each page lovingly penned and watercolored with amazing little trinkets and treasures of thoughts and wonderfulness. In the page adjacent to May 19-23 there is a garden plan... More accurate, *THE* garden of my dreams!
That was the start of this latest and greatest project!
So here it is Day 1: the inspiration piece and the beginning of my vision... Un petit jardin.
Stick around! There will be many more posts to come in the next handful of days of our STAYcation!
For the love of lemon butter, my wittoo hawt just espwodes wit wove! (Twy, eh-hem, sorry... TRY again, out loud, in an Elmer Fudd voice... THERE YA GO.)
So, lemon butter. I have had an ongoing love affair with lemon butter for some time now.
I was introduced to this amazing soul-soothing product back in the 80's. Yes, I did have waterfall hair. Yes, I did wear lace socks with my high heeled pumps. Yes, I did have a Prince poster on my wall, right next to my Rob Lowe poster. I also had this amazingly unique friend named Roz. She was a true Brit. She lived in Worcester Park (pronounced "wuster"), Surrey, England. Her sister lived here in the states. When Roz came to visit, she taught me MUCH. Most importantly, she taught me the British way to eat scones. First of all, scones should NEVER be coated in glaze or sprinkled with sugar. They aren't to be too sweet in the batter either. And they MUST be currant scones. Then, they must be accompanied by true Devonshire cream, raspberry preserves AND LEMON CURD. Okay, I now call it lemon butter but that's just because I know Roz would laugh if she heard me change the name simply because CURD is such an unpretty word. Oh look! I rhymed! Anyhoo, lemon butter. It was my soul mate from the first wonderful spoonful. I was sixteen.
Fastforward approximately twenty years and I found myself on a lemon butter mission. I set out to find THE. BEST. LEMON (curd) BUTTER. PERIOD. Do you KNOW how expensive that stuff is?!?! For the love of Meyer, whoever he is! An itty bitty little 6-8oz jar costs as much as a full tank of gasoline (nowadays, two gallons)! That's just ridiculous! Well, I'd treat myself now and then. I'd buy some at a specialty shop, give it to Mr. Homemaker and ask him to wrap it up and give it to me in my Christmas stocking. Hey, it worked! And he was relieved he had one less item he had to think up to give me!
Fastforward another five (yeesh! i almost typed fifteen years and aged myself an extra decade! i hate math.) years and I found myself too broke to justify suggesting $8 worth of lemony heaven, even for Christmas. NOW WHAT?! Hmmm, there must be a way to MAKE IT, right? I mean, really, it is just a food product which means it would have a recipe somewhere, right? YES! YES INDEEDY! I searched the internet and found Alton Brown's own recipe (I love his quirky little comments through the view of the inside of his oven) and promptly set out to duplicate it...
Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
I WAS SO EXCITED! I followed it to the letter! And yes, it was very good and oh so lemony heavenly, but hmmmm... How is it not quite right? It's just not "Roz quality" lemon (curd) butter. Oh my. Here's the thing... I'm not a confident "I can cook anything" kind of gal. My wonderfully longestly bestestly friend, Tam, from high school recently reminded me of how woefully kitchen challenged I truly was back in the day, pointing out that Mac&Cheese was my "specialty". ;) However, I WAS ON A MISSION. So spoonful after delicious spoonful of Alton's recipe, I pondered and made notes. Notes after notes.
Fast forward one more time to last summer. My sweet friends Que Sera Sera and Niecie B are also lemon butter lovers. They were VERY excited when I said I needed their tasting opinions on my lemon lovin' adventures! We have gone through this batch and that batch, carefully critiquing each one for slight imperfections (and yet, STILL ready to claw the orbs out of anyone's sockets that are eyeballing our lemon butter!) and giving gentle suggestions of improvements. To date, I honestly thought we had it down. Oh how delightfully wrong I was in that assumption!
Two words: raw sugar. Oh how joyous! RAPTURE! Break out in song! ♪♫Heaven... I'm in lemons...♪♫ Molasses meets lemon and KA-BLAM! Levels of richness I have never encountered! Warmth and pucker and all velvety... It is sheer LEMON HEAVEN! It is no longer Alton's vision of lemon loveliness... So, without further adieu... May I introduce...
The Homemaker's Lemon Butter Perfection!
Coming to an event near you in a housewarming, birthday, Christmas, baby shower, bridal shower, just-because-I-want-to gift SOON! Yep, all my friends will be getting some of this here and there this year... and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!
Until then, all God's people and The Homemaker said a Lemon Butter Amen!
So today my friend said, "You guys should start a parenting blog." I laughed, never thinking of the fact that I already have a blog, just not specific to parenting...
I laughed because I often feel like I am just a smidge of mustard short of a perfect backyard burger, or maybe an ounce shy of just enough mouthwash to really chase away bad breath... I guess you could say that I often feel like I'm just not quite good enough. THAT'S why I laughed... who on Earth would want to hear my two-cents on parenting?
Well, SHE did. So then I got to thinking... If I think someone will want to hear my rantings and wanderings and ravings and wonderings of life and all that is creativity... maybe, just maybe, someone would want to hear about my parenting.
The story that prompted all this self-evaluation (and self-criticism) was from a few days ago. My girl is now thirteen. She is just old enough to start thinking on her own (even if she does still need to be told WAKE UP, GET UP, WASH UP, CLEAN UP, STRAIGHTEN UP... sorry, I digress...) and for whatever reason, she asked me this...
"How do you KNOW there really is God? I mean, I believe and all, but how do you KNOW?"
You know the Holy Spirit is alive and well when someone like me can rattle off something so simple yet it worked beautifully... "You don't question if there really is wind even when you can't see it moving the trees, right?"
That seemed to answer that, but she had a one, two punch up her sleeve... "Okay, but what about the Holy Spirit? What is THAT all about and how do you KNOW there really is such a thing?"
Oh my word. I am ready for "the birds and the bees". I am ready for "how to choose a college". I am ready for most things. Thankfully, yet again, the Holy Spirit said, "I'll take this one."
"You know that gut feeling when you did something wrong? THAT'S the Holy Spirit."
My girl volleyed, "Everyone knows when they do something wrong, Mom. That's not the Holy Spirit."
I just let it roll. "Honey, we are taught right from wrong and most do know when they do something wrong. I'm not talking about when you know in your head you are doing something wrong. I'm talking about that pit in your stomach, the nauseating feeling when you are getting ready to do something you know is wrong and your gut screams, 'DON'T DO IT!' THAT is the Holy Spirit looking out for you, trying to guide you, loving you enough to say no."
She liked that answer. I'm confident the facebook "like" button was pressed over that answer.
See, I am quite certain, 99.9% positive that it wasn't me that explained it in that way. Why am I so certain? Because just last week at Bible study I, me, not the Holy Spirit, described "said Holy Spirit" as the Jiminy Cricket that says, "Oh you really ought not do that!" Yep, that's how I can tell when I let Jesus take the wheel... Because Disney characters aren't driving the bus.
Well hello all you wonderful crafty, scrappy, creatin', artsy people!!! I know, I KNOW! WAY too long since I've blogged. It's been a bumpy ride and I think there might have been a turn or two that I tooka wee bit too fast, fish-tailed some, recovered, then might have even ran it square off the flocking road once or twice!
BUT I AM BACK, BUCKLED UP AND READY TO BRING IT! What? I'm sorry, what's that? Uh, you are asking "what exactly" am I "bringing"? Umm, yeaah, ah, hmmm, yerrr, weeeeeelllll... minor detail.
NEXT QUESTION.
So, since I blogged last, The Merc was unceremoniously... closed. I was totally bummed. Enjoyed it immensely, but I swore to my fab hubby that if it didn't glorify God and it didn't benefit the fam that I would not drag it out. Thus, one quick load into the back of the car and the pickup and DONE. Then what?
Prayer, that's what. Okay, that and a lot of sniveling. But mostly prayer.
And then the most amazing thing happened. Someone anonymously scholarshiped me to go to women's retreat... where one night I went to sit down with my roomies but the table was full. "No worries!" and off I go to find a place to sit, eat and make some new friends. One of THOSE new friends (God Bless You!) ♪♫listeeennnnned♪♫ when I declared "oh, and have I mentioned I'm certain that as crazy as it sounds, God is going to put THE! PERFECT part-time job in my life even though those are few and far between especially in this economy..."
Fast-forward a couple weeks and I'm in a mom's group at church (it was a Wednesday) where a guest speaker was talking about a ministry she runs for teen moms. The next day... seriously, the VERY... NEXT... DAY... I get a text from the wonderful lady that (and right here you need to hear Buddy the Elf "I'm in a store and I'm ♪♫SIIIINNNNGGGGIIINNNNGGG♪♫")... the wonderful lady that...
♪♫LISTEEEEENNNNNED♪♫
to me at the table of all my new friends at the women's retreat. She asked me if I knew Microsoft Office. I'm thinking, "Wow, she thinks I know stuff that could help her? Cool!"
Oh no. No no NO! She follows the text with a call... a call that has changed MY LIFE, MY FAMILY'S LIFE AND THE LIFE OF ALL MY FRIENDS WHO NOW HEAR ALL ABOUT MY GLORIOUS DAYS AT... MY JOB! The gal that spoke at my mom's group went full-time on that ministry and they hired me for her part-time responsibilities in the front office where my new friend also leases an office...
at Fresno/Madera Youth for Christ!
It is an amazing place to work with such a vision to reach kids and let them know that God loves them!
So, with that said, I will continue to blog, continue to create and continue to love my job... so PLEASE continue to check in here on the Homemaker's Mercantile now that I'm back from my hiatus!
Well, I am on the road once again! My scrap friends and I are heading to PARADISE, CA for a fantastic crop at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique!
I have been hearing a MAJOR BUZZ about this scrapper haven for quite some time now in my circle o' friends and lemme just say... I SIMPLY CAN NOT WAIT TO GET THERE! Now that you are totally jealous, check out this web link! Paradise Scrapbook Boutique
So, now I am on a countdown of 27 hours before blazing off into the mid-day sunshine tomorrow, with our first stop in COLFAX, CALIFORNIA!
Wait, what? Yes, in my travels, I take the LONG route. No, that's not true. :) I am actually taking MamaMia along for part of the ride up to "the designated drop spot" of Colfax so that she can be foot-loose-and-fancy-free with her sister up in northern Nevada for over TWO WEEKS! Look at MamaMia go!
The Hubster and The Girl will be flying solo for the weekend and I bet they are both Praising Jesus that there will be some silence in The Homestead this weekend! Can I get an "Amen, Sista"?
And then Scrapbook Que Sera Sera, who will be my WingWoman for the weekend, and The Homemaker will head over to Britt's (aka The Niecie) Paisley Lane Design Studio for some pre-scrap PARTYING! Aw, don't get your knickers in a knot... it's all innocent fun. The Homemaker has a reputation to protect here! By the way... The Niecie has her own blog THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AHHH-MAAA-ZINGGGG!
In the meantime, I am answering questions like I am in the hot seat at The Inquisition! MamaMia is on a roll with her list upon list to be organized! Whew! She hit me with Question Number 1 whilst I was mid sip of my first Mug O' Life and it wasn't even 7a.m. yet! But she is excited and really rip roaring ready t' go and I am excited for her excitement!
So, for now... I'm off to get appointments and errands done. Heavenly Father, I pray that this day brings much excitement and much glory to You. I pray that this trip breathes new twinkle into the life of my mom. I pray my daughter has a good day wearing her "out of her box" outfit to school and that my husband is safe at work. I pray all in Your Glorious Son's Name.
And all God's children said, Amen.
So, with all the excitement and family appointments and grocery shopping and quality time and homework and phone calls and prepping for today and prayers and finally falling asleep... I NEVER POSTED MY END OF THE DAY POST YESTERDAY!
A scrappers dream was my afternoon yesterday. I finally completed a layout I had in my brain for several years!
Eating and scrapping and chatting... not a bad day! The child came home and sat at the table with us while she worked on her homework. What a blessing.
And to top all, I was able to finish a trash2treasure project... a bulletin board for our Mom2Mom ministry!
And it made its debut this morning... and was already receiving posts from the the ladies before we finished our group time today! That is recycling at it's finest, I think.
I plan to tackle my girl's Halloween costume all from scratch this year... she will be the Mad Hatter! If I can get my hands on a webcam, I may even video some of its creative steps!!!
In the meantime, the world moves ahead at light speed. I pray that my girl has had a good day at school and greets me with at least a half-smile if not FULL BLOWN ENTHUSIASM.
