Angel Food Cake

If you've made pasta, here is a way to use up those egg whites!

I know some are intimidated by homemade angel food cake but I've made this recipe from Betty Crocker literally dozens of times in my teens and it never failed. Keep your
bowl and utensils very clean and follow the directions specifically. Egg whites at room temperature will whip up higher then cold whites.

1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 T sugar
12 egg whites (1 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Stir together flour and first amount of sugar, set aside.
In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until foamy.
Add 3/4 cup sugar, a spoonful at time, beating on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks.
Gently fold in flavorings.
Sprinkle flour-sugar mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over meringue, folding gently just until flour-sugar mixture disappears.
Push batter into ungreased tube pan, 10x4 inch. Gently cut through batter.
Bake 30-35 min or until top springs back.
Invert tube pan, let sit until cake is completely cool before removing from pan.

The Tightwad Gazette

The Complete Tightwad Gazette

The first year we were married, I found the Tightwad Gazette at a book sale. What a fun way to learn about frugal living!

Amy Dacyczyn wrote and edited a newsletter in the 1990s promoting thrift and money management in a humorous readable way! Her newsletters were compiled in three books (The Tightwad Gazette 1, 2,and 3) and then later the three books were compiled in The Complete Tightwad Gazette, which is still in print. Though some of her tips are out-dated, especially those concerning the computer, the majority of her information and articles are timeless and maybe more valuable now then when she wrote them!

Few writers make me laugh and think as well as Amy does. Some sections of her book I've read multiple times, such as the article on "how to be frugal without feeling deprived". Her idea is that when you have a goal and decide your priorities, frugal choices will not be deprivation but the choice allowing you to reach a greater goal. When I think of the privilege I have of staying home with my children and having a husband that works decent hours, any frugal choices we make seem quite minor in the whole scheme of life.

Another thing I admire about Amy is that after her book's unexpected success and wide popularity, she decided she had met her goal of helping pay off their house and she returned to private life as a homemaker. When last did you hear of someone who says they made enough money and are quitting at the height of their popularity? I just read a recent interview of Amy and she is still living a simple frugal life in Maine with her family.

I think that anyone, no matter how frugal, could learn some tips from her books. Though I think her book is well worth the cost, make the even more frugal choice and check them out of the library!

Mix and Match Quick Bread

from Frozen Assets

• 3 cups flour (whole wheat and white make a nice blend)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon (or ginger, cloves etc.)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar (we cut this down and see very little difference)
• 2 cups Mix-N-Match (see list below)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chopped nuts or seeds (we leave these out)

Sift together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat eggs; add oil and sugar; cream together. Stir in Mix-N-Match and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Stir in nuts. Spoon into two well-greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. When cool, wrap bread; label and freeze. Makes 2 loaves.

Mix-N-Match (one of more of the following to equal 2 cups)

• Apples, grated or chopped
• Applesauce
• Apricots
• Bananas, mashed or chopped
• Berries
• Carrots, cooked and mashed or grated
• Cherries
• Coconut
• Cranberries, dry or raw, chopped
• Dates or figs, pitted and finely chopped
• Lemon, 1/2 cup juice
• Marmalade (omit one cup sugar)
• Mincemeat
• Oranges, chopped
• Orange juice, 1/2 cup juice
• Peaches, fresh or canned, chopped
• Pears, fresh or canned, chopped
• Pineapple
• Prunes, chopped
• Pumpkin, mashed
  
• Raisins
• Rhubarb, finely chopped (add 1/2 cup more sugar)
• Strawberries, well drained
  
• Sweet potato or yams, cooked and mashed or grated
• Zucchini, grated and well drained

Homemade Salsa

1 gallon of skinned and diced tomatoes (Roma are wonderful but any kind of tomato will work)
12 chopped jalapeno peppers (use caution and wear gloves while chopping peppers, after a bad experience, I just put in 3 T. or more of dried crushed red pepper)
3 sweet peppers (diced)
2 medium onions (diced)
2 T salt
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (I don't usually have this so I substitute fresh parsley)

Place all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer for 30 to 60 minutes uncovered. Can or freeze.
Hint: To thicken, I add 1/4 cup clear gell half way through the cooking time.


Edit to add Disclaimer: Though I've made this recipe for years, it has not been tested by experts for safety. I know that clear gell or other thickener is not usually recommended. Use this recipe at your own risk.

Home Canned Tomato Soup

This is an old family recipe that is my children's favorite soup with a toasted cheese sandwich. 

Home Canned Tomato Soup

8 quart chopped tomatoes OR 1 gallon of tomato juice
1 whole stalk of celery, roughly chopped
6 onions, quartered
1 T parsley
4-8 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar OR 1 tsp stevia
2 T salt
1 tsp pepper
1 stick melted butter



Cook tomatoes until soft and put through food mill. Cook celery and onions and puree in blender, then put through food mill. Stir together tomatoes, onions, celery, parsley and bay leaves in large pot and bring to boil. Cook for 15 minutes. Stir together flour, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add a little tomato mixture and stir well. Blend in butter. Combine everything into a large pot. Cook for a few additional minutes until blended well. Ladle into jars and can for 20 minutes. Makes about 16 pint.

To serve: Heat soup in pan until hot. Add a pinch of baking soda. Add 1 pint of milk for each quart of soup. Heat well. Serve.

Note: This recipe would not be approved by experts because of the butter and flour. Our family has enjoyed this recipe for many years. But you may want to pressure can just to be safe. Use this recipe at your own risk.

Guest Post - Dilled Green Beans

Thanks, Sonya, for sharing this recipe!

6 cups of white vinegar
2 cups of water
1/2 cup pickling or canning salt
Garlic cloves
Fresh Dill

Combine vinegar, water, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt.
Place 1 clove of garlic and 2 heads of dill in each jar. Pack green beans into jar & top with more dill.
Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Process for 10 minutes. Makes about 7 pint

Your green beans just won't give up and die? You could mow them off... or try this! The recipe came from my neighbor. It was originally for dilled carrots, but she adapted it for beans. She brought us a pint, and we all loved them. Our three year old would hack & sputter, and then ask for another one. My husband said they were even better than dill pickles, because they were crunchier. I spent a considerable amount of time picking the thinnest and straightest, but I wouldn't recommend that because they looked a bit more shriveled than the ones that she gave us. She used ones that I
would have said were a bit too big, but were great for pickling. 

Problem areas

Still slowly working my way through fall house cleaning. Here are some of the "problem areas" in my house that I would love to hear your tips on controlling!

1. Our children are really into craft projects. But all the glue, markers, crayons, paints, scissors, etc really get into a cluttered mess! Any ideas of good storage system, that is accessible for the pre-schoolers and not the toddler? I just heard of using a large tackle box as movable storage, and might try it - if you have no better ideas.

2. In a related area, what do you do with all the "masterpieces" that your children create! I don't mind my house looking like a pre-school but after a while my cupboards are covered with their paintings and I need some more ideas for craft display or storage. We take paintings with us almost everywhere we go as gifts which helps tremendously to cut down the clutter.

3. Probably the most dangerous closet in our house contains the game/puzzle shelf. If you don't remove items with utmost care, you are sure to collapse the whole pile! Maybe I just need to invest in some storage containers or boxes and pull the whole box down to access it. Any other ideas?

4. You may have gathered that I like to experiment with new recipes. We don't get bored with our meals but my recipes are a disaster! I have trouble finding what I'm looking for and badly need a better organization system. This is what I have now...two blank journals with our family favorites written in (I use these most often and can actually usually find what I want) a stuffed recipe box, a fat notebook with page protectors holding recipes printed off the net or torn out of magazines, and lots of scraps of paper with scrawled recipes waiting to find a permanent home. Add a whole shelf of cookbooks and maybe it is no wonder that I can't find particular recipes! What works for you? Sometimes I just want to type off every recipe I use into the computer, have a searchable data base, and throw everything else out! But then I'd need a lap top to sit on the kitchen counter - and what about computer crashes?...Maybe not a good idea!

I'll admit that one of my side motives in doing this blog has to do with recipes. I have a goal of someday giving my daughter a copy of our favorite family recipes as well as gardening, preserving, and homemaking tips. I know that it will be a long time before she leaves our home, and I hope to have many years with her but life moves fast! Besides, I want to remember what it was like to be a new homemaker with little ones under foot and more creativity, energy, and ambition then money! This blog has been a great excuse to start getting some things typed up. It isn't organized but maybe it will be easier then starting from nothing.