Category: General

One of my favorite Christmas stories is the poem written around 1840 called The Night Before Christmas and all through the House… Well here is an updated version with quite a bit of sad truth in it. Read on:

Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas – no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ‘ Holiday ‘.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas – was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas;
it won’t touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate ‘Winter Break’ under your
‘Dream Tree’ Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday !

Here is a suggested Thanksgiving Timeline:

By Saturday:  Have your menu selected.  Get your turkey purchased.  The experts suggest you allow four to five days for thawing in the refrigerator.  I think it takes longer depending on the size of the bird.  Plan and make the centerpiece.  Order fresh flowers ahead since florists are busy!

On Sunday – prepare a shopping list to purchase last minute items and non-perishables on Monday or Tuesday.

Monday and Tuesday – prepare pie crust, cranberry sauce, homemade stuffing can be started by setting out the bread to stale.  Start rolls to finish in the morning.

Make sure all the dishes, flatware and serving pieces are ready.  Press tablecloths and napkins so everything is ready.

Wednesday –  Complete baking rolls, pies and desserts, prepare vegetables, salads and side dishes to be baked today and reheated tomorrow, or to be baked tomorrow; stock for giblet gravy and set the table after dinner.

Apparently, 88 million dryers in the USA account for 6 percent of electricity consumed in US households, in fact they are the second biggest household consumer of power after, you guessed it, refrigerators.

That is, according to a story in the October 28, 2007 issue of the Denver Post. Writer, Nancy Lofholm, filed a story entitled “Hanging Tough – Humble clotheslines’ simplicity blows past technology in energy-conscious era.” I was surprised by how little energy in dollars that represents. The article claims the average household spends $80.00 on dryer energy annually.

So what are the benefits of hanging the clothes outside besides the delightful smell and the miracle of sunshine to deoderize and disinfect? I’ll admit, I love those few moments of outside time in the sunshine. Where I live, the surrouding scenery is spectacular, but even in a suburban setting I would hang clothes outside.

I’ll also admit that I’m a fair-weather outside clothesline advocate. When its freezing cold and the sun doesn’t hit my clothesline until noon, I opt for the dryer. Ditto if it is snowing or some other inclement weather excuse.

In the 50’s and 60’s when I grew up, everyone in my neighborhood had a clothesline that was accessed from the back porch year around. During the era before dryers became common household appliances, the clotheslines ran on a pully system to a big tree far back in the yard to hold several loads of wash at once in my neighborhood.

Where I live, I don’t have back porch convenience, but as an advocate of “old fashioned skills for contemporary people”, I hope you will consider using your humble clothesline, enjoy the outdoor time, as well as the energy savings.

Interestingly, back to Project laundry List, the organization’s motto is taken from good old Benjamin Franklin.

“We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.”

Of course I don’t think Ben was referring to laundry when he wrote this motto. This emerging trend is part of the recycle, reduce energy consumption crowd and has come head to head with many homeowner associations with covenants prohibiting or discouraging outdoor clotheslines.

Yes, in our modern litigous society, both homeowners and home owner’s associations and even municipalities have run lawsuits against each other over the lowly clothesline. Apparently a few forward thinking states have banned anti-clothesline rules.

The biggest problem with my clothesline is keeping track of the pins! I just discovered a great pattern to make a clothespin holder in The Treasury of Vintage Homekeeping Skills. If you love vintage, you love the old-fashioned art of homekeeping and need some gift ideas, consider investing in this Treasure of a book. This $29.95 book is free with an order of $200.00 or more, $15.00 with an order of $100 or more at www.urbanhomemaker.com. It makes a terrific gift for a young lady, a wedding gift, new mom, anyone who cares about the art of keeping a home.

 I just received the following email from a friend whose home was spared from the fires in southern California.  Let’s not forget to pray for those who have lost everything.

I just wanted you to know that we have returned to our home after being evacuated Monday morning.  God is good and spared our home.

            We had a brief warning that we would be evacuated, so I started packing immediately.  I grabbed our adoption papers, our legal documents, my mill, my Bosch, a giant bucket of hard red wheat, my yeast, some vital gluten, and then I started thinking about clothes.  J

        It turns out it was good that I brought my bread supplies, as we were able to bake bread for the family who took us in and they loved the bread so much that they may start milling as well!  They’ll be checking out your website soon, I’m sure.

            Please continue to pray for the families who have lost everything out here in Southern Cal.  It’s devastating to say the least.  I’ve never felt more helpless in my life, but prayer and making bread helped more than you’ll ever know.

        Praying kept me focused on Him, while making bread gave me the opportunity to bless those who took us in.  I always pray as I make the bread-from the time I start pouring wheat into the hopper until it comes out of the oven, I pray that the bread will be a blessing to those who eat it and that it will honor God in the process.

Reese Johnson

Take time today to count your blessings and  keep on praying.  Marilyn Moll

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  You see, I am a morning person, and I love the ease of preparing breakfast.  By dinner time, I’m spent, not ready to start another meal preparation if I don’t have to.

I recently received a phone inquiry asking,  “What can I serve for breakfast besides eggs and cereal?” That question was just the impetus I needed to explain the nutritional benefits of kicking the breakfast cereal habit, for good and assembling a breakfast recipe assortment of tried and true, quick and easy recipes .

Here are a few suggestions for breaking up the monotony of having the same thing every day and making it healthy too!

Breakfast Burritos
Smoothies
French Toast Casserole
German Puff Pancake
Zesty Baked Eggs

Here is my favorite Breakfast burrito filling.  Make it ahead, and just warm it up in the morning.

Breakfast Burritos
I make this in bulk and freeze the filling in meal sized portions.

1 medium potato – cooked (leftover baked potato works easily)
1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
1 small onon, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne
2-4 eggs, beaten
6 flour tortilla’s
1 cup Montery Jack  or Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Optional Garnishes:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Chopped cilantro

Cube the potato when cooled enough.  Brown sausage in large fry pan with chopped onion.  When meat is browned and onion wilted, add chili powder and cayenne.  Cook 10 minutes over low heat, and covered stirring often to soften the onion.  Drain the fat.  Add potato.  Add beaten eggs,  Stir until eggs are set.  Spoon 1/3 cup portions or so into a warm tortilla, top with 1 1/2 TB shredded cheese, a teaspoon of salsa and sour c ream if desired and roll-up.  Serve with fruit or juice.

     Blustery, cold Fall weather has arrived in Colorado.  For my family and I, there is nothing better than hot, nutty, fragrant whole grain bread fresh from the oven.  After making most of our family’s bread for over 20 years, I never tire of the smell or the taste.

Although a grain mill is NOT a pre-requisite for mastering bread baking,, one of the questions I am most often asked is, “Which grain mill is the best mill?”  With Christmas fast approaching, I know many of you are gathering comparative information to make the best grain mill choice for your family.

Grain Mill Comparisons: 

Micronizing Grain Mills
Micronizing mills are exclusively powered by electricity and utilize technology that originally was developed for the pharmaceutical industry to derive fine, uniform powders.  Modified for milling grains, micronizers are fast and capable of  milling grains into very fine, powdery flour at low temperatures.    My personal preference and baking experience has been exclusively with micronizing grain mills.

KITCHEN MILL Advantages – Large flour catch pan – holds 21-23 cups flour, strong reliability record, stores very compactly (if storage space is at a premium at your house you will appreciate this), produces high quality fine flour, mills all grains and dry beans, lifetime warranty on milling system/5 yr. warranty on the motor, mfg. in the USA.  This grain mill was my first mill and my husband’s favorite.
Disadvantages: Smaller grain hopper, noisier than certain other mills.

NUTRIMILL– Advantages – Large flour canister – holds 21 cups of flour, life-time warranty, large grain hopper, slightly quieter than K-tec but has the same milling system, slide out drawer contains flour mills most grains and dry beans.
Disadvantages: higher price, takes a large amount of storage space, mfg. in Korea.

Wondermill – Advantages – Formerly known as the Whisper Mill, slightly quieter than The Kitchen Mill, large hopper capacity, six year warranty, high quality flour, grain feeds well into milling mechanism, produces flour quickly. My personal favorite grain mill. New models have a larger, more reliable motor.  This grain mill is my personal preference.
Disadvantages – Smaller capacity flour canister (12 cup), does not crack grain, must turn on mill before adding grain so the mill will not jam.

Steel-Cone Burr Mill
This type of grain mill also can be operated by both hand or electric power and offers the ability to adjust the fineness of the flour from fine to cracked.  Generally, the steel-cone burr will produce flour at a slower speed, but the electric version is also relatively quiet to run.  Steel cone burr mills can make fine flours suitable for breads, muffins, pastries, etc, but the flour may not be as fine as stone or micronizing mills.  These grain mills can also mill most whole grains and beans, but larger grains such as corn and beans will need to be cracked first, and then run through again on a fine setting if you want flour.

FAMILY GRAIN MILL – Advantages – versatile; available with handbase and other food processing attachments, adjustable fine to course mechanism so mill will crack grain, can be used with Bosch Universal with an adaptor or with K-Tec Kitchenetics without an adaptor, German made, quietest mill we sell, takes minimal storage space, very economical.
Disadvantage – flour may not be quite as fine as Nutrimill, Wondermill or Kitchen Mill, slower production of flour than high speed mills.

The above information is excerpted from A Beginner’s Guide to Baking Bread by Marilyn Moll.

Click Here to purchase this ebook for $9.95.
This ebook Includes:

* How to Select Ingredients
* Selecting a Grain Mill
* Selecting A Mixer
* Step-by-Step Mixing Instructions
* How to Develop the Gluten
* Tips for the Best Bread
* Lots of Bread and Roll Recipes
* Troubleshooting Guide
* The Two-Stage Process
Item #6059    $9.95

I have heard it said, “Attitude is everything.” I have not understood that phrase very well over the years, although God has faithfully taken me through some difficult wilderness experiences where my attitude was anything but edifying.

In fact, several months ago, Lorrie Flem, Publisher of TEACH magazine was my phone seminar guest and was talking about 13 Easy Things to Make Your Day More Productive and the subject of Child Training Sessions and Attitude adjustments came up but we simply did not have time to develop this important area.

Lorrie teased us a bit by explaining about how at her house , the training session isn’t considered successful or completed until “sparkly eyes” reflecting, a repentant and transformed heart, are evident.

She says, “Training our children’s attitude is how we teach our children to learn to obey God, cheerfully and then we will be happy.” So this Thursday night we are returning to this important topic of “attitude” and pleasing God.

We will be talking about how she first became interested in this topic of attitudes and why attitudes matter so much. If you know Lorrie, she is an expert in practical topics and will be giving us examples from the Bible where attitudes worked for good and for evil.

Most importantly, we will brainstorm practical ways to get out of bad attitudes and of course take time for audience questions. If you would like to ask Lorrie a question, please email your questions to marilyn@urbanhomemaker.com.

Phone Seminar Contact Information:

Date: Thursday, October 18, 2007

Scheduled Start Time: 9:00 PM EDT, 8:00 CDT, 7:00 PM MDT, 6:00 PDT (Adjust for your time zone, please.

Dial-in Number: 1-712-432-2455

Participant Access Code: 754074

If you have never participated in a phone seminar before, here is how it works:

1. You dial in the phone number below to the seminar. (You pay only for the phone call.)
2. Key in the seminar access code.
3. Introduce yourself, it you wish.
4. Bring a notebook to take notes, a cup of tea, and have your questions ready.
5. Don’t worry about background noise, we will mute that out!

Think of the phone seminars as “continuing education” for moms!

NOTE:
If you visit my Blog between now and Thursday and leave a comment, you will have a chance to win a free copy of more than 12 hours of listening with our downloadable Continuing Education for Moms Collection. This is a $60.00 value!

If you post a comment stating what you have enjoyed about the phone seminars or suggestions for future phone seminars you will get two entries into the contest.

I will be giving away 10 copies of Continuing Education for Moms – Volume 1!

If your garden is producing more tomatoes than you can handle, here is a flavor packed way to use them up that my whole family loved. PESTO LASAGNA
Although this is a vegetarian dish, you could easily add some ground meat or sausage to the ricotta cheese mixture. Here is the recipe link.
http://articles.urbanhomemaker.com/index.php?article=413

A few weeks ago my oldest daughter was scanning the help-wanted classified ads and found a listing for a Personal Chef. She responded to the listed phone number and was among several finalists interviewed for the job. To her credit, she did not claim to be a professional chef, just a girl who can enjoys cooking and has mastered some basics.

Yes, she got the job. It turns out Grandma did the screening/hiring process for busy daughter, mother of twins. After meeting the family and a tour of the kitchen, mom had trouble locating her cookware and other kitchen items. You see, this family has been eating out seven days a week for years.

So far, they love Laura’s menus and cooking. The first week she relied on my Week One menu from Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Moms Book. I was afraid she wouldn’t be cooking gourmet enough for them.

Would you believe it, today’s Business section of our local paper featured an article on the growing profession of Personal Chef’s who can earn a good living! I am so glad I taught her to cook, but never dreamed she could make money doing it!

Do you know anyone using a Personal Chef?

Marilyn Moll
The Heart of Homemaking