The Art of Making Do

I love the old pioneer saying,
"Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without."

Some might call this attitude, "Provident Living", which is another way of saying "Making use of your resources". I was thinking about this recently as I attended a local "Quilt Shop Hop", where quilt shops had special sales, free patterns, drawings, giveaways, ideas, etc. I went to several of the local stores, and had a lot of fun looking at beautiful and cute fabrics, quilts, tools, etc. I find the quilt kits interesting. You can buy a stack of co-ordinated fabrics all from one line, designed to make a quilt. I think we have to be careful to remind ourselves that we don't have to buy a matching line of fabric to make a beautiful, warm quilt. Taking assorted scraps, cutting them, and stitching them together can make a quilt just as beautiful and warm, and it will be much more creative also. The challenge is in looking at the scrap quilt as something that is "handmade" (seen as valuable) rather than "homemade" (seen as not valuable). The big difference between the two is attitude. You can view your actions as worthwhile, or you can moan and groan and complain that you can't buy the matching line of fabric, and be dis-satisfied with anything else. It is a choice. Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with buying the kit of matching fabrics and making a cute quilt from them. That is fine if that is in your budget and gives you the look you want. I am just saying that if you make a quilt from scraps, that is just as valuable, and maybe even more valuable.

My grandma was a quilter. She would take whatever was available and make it into a quilt. I remember her afghans that showed how frugal she was. She would take old men's wool suit coats, cut the fabric into squares, crochet around the edges, and sew the blocks together to make an afghan. Or she would take a torn sheet-blanket and do the same. Her afghans were warm and attractive, and used things that others might have thrown away. I don't think it ever crossed her mind to complain that she hadn't bought new fabrics; she was making good use of something that had worn out, and giving it a new life.

There are lots of ways of "making do". It is different for each person, since each person has different resources and different skills and talents. I have had some practice at making do as a stay-at-home mother, trying to raise a family on a limited budget. It has become even more necessary since my husband lost his job. I find the key is to focus on what you do have and what you can do, not on what you don't have or can't do. There is a difference between cheerfully making do, and feeling deprived. Let me give you a few examples.

Recently, I was part of a group in charge of providing food for a breakfast meeting. I didn't have the money to offer to provide juice, or a main dish, or anything I had to go to the store and buy. I did, however, have a good supply of baking ingredients in my pantry. I offered to make homemade cinnamon rolls. Nobody knew that it was an economy offering, they all enjoyed the rolls. Now, if I had made excuses, or complained about that being the only thing I could afford, it would have taken away some of their enjoyment, and it would have made me focus on a negative idea. But because I enjoyed offering the cinnamon rolls, I think that added to their enjoyment of them.

Another example: tonight I made a potato dish that my family enjoys. The original recipe calls for small red potatoes. There is a reason for this, because you boil the potatoes, then put them on a pan and slightly flatten them with a potato masher. Then they are brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary, and baked until golden brown. Red potatoes have a good texture for this recipe, and hold together well. I would think yukon gold potatoes would be really good for this as well. But where I live, red potatoes are generally much more expensive than russets, and yukon golds are even more expensive, so russets are what I have. Russets are what I usually use for this recipe. My family doesn't know the difference. Sometimes they have a potato that is kind of falling apart, but they don't care, because they enjoy the taste of these potatoes. If I was apologetic, or complained about not being able to afford red potatoes, it would take away their enjoyment, and mine as well. If I insisted on having red potatoes before I would make this recipe, we would all miss out. By making do with the russet potatoes, my family was excited to see a favorite dish on the table, and we all enjoyed our dinner.

There are thousands of ways to make do, and all depend on what resources you have. When I am invited to a baby shower, I look through my stash of fabric, and make a blanket and burp cloth, or an outfit, or a baby quilt. A friend of mine searches her shelves for food staples to use for wedding gifts. A bag of flour, one of sugar, a bottle of oil, a few other odds and ends, and she has a thoughtful wedding gift. The bride doesn't know that this was her gift because there was no money to buy a gift. Internet websites are a good source of recipes for homemade versions of convenience foods and seasoning mixes that put good food on the table for pennies. Putting a few seeds in the ground can yield fresh, flavorful vegetables for very little cost. Making needed repairs can teach you a whole new set of handy skills. Last week, someone complimented me on my dress, which I had bought 3 years ago at a thrift store for $1. We enjoy a movie at the local "dollar theater" just as much as the movies we pay full price to see. My vase full of apple tree prunings is just as attractive as the decorative sticks available at the craft store. You can have a very good life while making do.

Why would you want to make do if you can afford other options? Making do does save money, but there are other reasons to make do even if your budget is more plentiful than mine. Making do is very earth friendly. It focuses on conserving resources, minimizing waste, finding new uses for things. There is something satisfying to the soul when you make do. You learn, and grow, and become more creative. Life becomes fuller, richer, deeper. You are more connected with the process of living well, and come to realize what the important things in life are. It is like emotional exercise. Just like you feel your muscles and physical abilities grow when you exercise, when you make do, your abilities and talents grow. That is the kind of life I want, whether my budget requires it or not.

"Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without."
Let's make this the motto for this century, too.
Vicki

I'm Back

Sorry I haven't posted for such a long time. I took on a temporary part-time job, and it about wiped me out. It was working at a local amusement park, where my youngest son works in the games department. They open the park to school-aged kids in May for school field trips, but their normal workers are also in school. So they hire mothers to work a few days a week for about a month until school gets out. I was assigned to run a game. The hard part is that you have to stand on that hard asphalt all day long, and it wasn't very busy, so it was just standing there for the most part. I am not used to being on my feet for that long, even when I am canning. The other hard part was just not being home. I have a new appreciation for working mothers. Even though I was only working 3 days a week, I found I spent my days off either preparing to be gone to work, or recovering from being gone to work. I have been a stay-at-home mother for 35 years, and it would take a lot for me to get used to such a radical change in my routine.

One thing that I found made things easier, was cooking ahead for the nights I worked. I knew I would come home with aching feet and not want to cook. I also knew that I didn't want all that hard-earned money to go to buy take-out food. So I planned ahead, and did some cooking on my days off for that week's meals. It made a huge difference to come home from work, rest a bit, then heat up dinner. I would have made up freezer meals, but my freezer is pretty full, with only room for my homemade bread in it. For just those few days, it worked out well to just cook the food and store it in the fridge, re-heating it when we were ready to eat it. There was one night that I splurged and bought a rotisserie chicken for dinner. It was on sale for not much more than it would have cost to buy a whole raw chicken, so I didn't feel bad about that.

I find that my month of working has given me a new appreciation for the ability to be a stay-at-home mother, even though my kids are all adults now. I have the time and energy to plant my garden, make jam, sew a baby shower gift, shop for groceries, clean house. I am home for those little emergencies, like when my daughter's car had issues on her way to work. When I am home, I can just let her take my car. When it happened on a day I had to work, it was a struggle to work out how everyone got to where they needed to go. I am again able to tend my grandkids one morning a week while their mother goes in to her job. I may still struggle to accomplish all I want to do, but I am able to work on it at my own schedule, for the most part. I am very grateful for my life, and hope to be able to post more regularly now.
Vicki

Mother's Day Dinner

It has been so long since I have posted, I am sorry. All I can plead is busyness, after all it is spring and there is a lot to do in the yard, and there happens to be a lot to do in the house, also.

Yesterday my mother and brother came for Mother's Day dinner. It has been a lot of years since that has happened. Since my brother is autistic, he doesn't deal well with lots of people around. A long time ago, Mom decided it was just easier to not do holiday get-togethers. But since my brother went into a group home last June, he has learned to do lots of things he wouldn't have thought about doing in the past. He spent the night at Mom's Saturday night, and they came to my house for dinner before Mom returned him home. I only had my 2 daughters who live with us here for dinner. We celebrated Mother's day and 2 birthdays the week earlier, due to schedules. Mother's Day, one daughter was out of town, a son had to work, and the other son went to his in-laws for dinner. I am perfectly happy to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries on a day other than the actual date we are celebrating.

I served a fairly simple menu: Turkey breast cooked in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade stuffing, corn, and rolls. Mom brought a fruit bouquet my brother sent her. It was huge, especially for one person, so she shared with us. She also brought strawberry shortcake for dessert, and then my oldest daughter made chocolate mousse, too. The thing that really made this meal a holiday-type meal was the rolls. I have never met anyone who doesn't like homemade rolls, and the picky eaters I know seem to be especially fond of homemade rolls. The nice thing is that the rolls really stretch the meal for just a few pennies cost. I made them more special this time by making Boysenberry Butter to go with them. I took a cup of softened butter and whipped it, then whipped in a cup of seedless boysenberry jam. Very popular with my family.

Here is the roll recipe I used. Not as fancy as the crescent rolls I make for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but easier to make. This is actually the recipe I use most for white bread, too. The vinegar acts as a dough conditioner, and no, you don't taste it.

White Bread or Rolls
2 c. warm water
3 Tbsp. oil
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar or honey
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. vinegar
6-8 cups flour
Mix ingredients well, adding enough flour to make a soft but not too sticky dough. You should be able to handle the dough with floured or greased hands. Let raise 25 minutes. Punch down and shape into 2 large loaves, 5 small loaves, or 24 rolls in a 9" x 13" pan. This also makes good cinnamon rolls, etc. Let raise until doubled. Bake loaves at 350 degrees for 25 min., rolls at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!
Vicki

Spring Cleaning the Root Cellar

I have been busily cleaning out my root cellar. Okay, I don't really have a root cellar. I have a garage where I store vegetables for the winter. My garage keeps things cool all winter, and if I package things properly, they don't freeze. The problem is, I store as much as I can for the winter so we have plenty. Then when spring comes, I nearly always have food that hasn't been used yet. I don't want to waste that food, so I have to find a way to either use it right away, or preserve it for longer term storage. So here is an overview of what I stored for the winter, and what I have done with it this spring.

Pumpkins--I had 4 pumpkins I just stored on a shelf for the winter. They would have stored better if I had wiped the shells with clorox water (1 Tbsp. clorox to a quart of water), but I fully intended to can the pumpkins last fall, so I didn't wipe them off. And then I didn't get them canned, either. They were starting to show a little mold on the bottom, so I cut that part off, and canned pumpkin chunks. (Pumpkin puree is considered not safe for home canning, due to inefficient heat penetration. You can freeze pumpkin puree.) I use the pumpkin as an oil substitute in baking. I dump the chunks in the blender and puree them, adding only enough of the liquid to make the blender puree the chunks well. This is especially nice in cake mixes in place of the oil called for.

Garlic--When I harvested my garlic last fall, I braided it, and humg it in the garage. But my garlic was starting to sprout, so I knew it wouldn't last much longer. So I sliced it and dehydrated it. I will grind it in a coffee grinder I keep for grinding spices and herbs, and make my own garlic powder.

Potatoes--I store my potatoes in a clean garbage can lined with crumpled newspaper, with the top ajar to let moisture out. I way overbought potatoes last fall. I canned 7 quarts of plain potatoes, and 7 quarts of potato soup starter. The soup starter was just potatoes with some onion and celery and chicken bouillon added. I still have more to preserve, but I am low on jars, so I intend to dehydrate the rest. I will stem them until nearlly cooked, then dehydrate. I haven't dried potatoes before, but have read hints on how to keep the potatoes from turning dark. I will report on how they turn out.

Onions--I usually buy a 25 lb. bag of onions in the fall, and store them hanging in pantyhose. I cut the legs of the pantyhose off, and drop an onion into the toe, and tie a knot, then drop in the next onion, and so on. This year I used nearly the whole 25 lbs. of onions, using almost the last ones for the potato soup starter. Other years, I have dried extra onions, but they also freeze well.

Carrots--I stored carrots 2 ways for the winter. The best results came from the ones I picked and put in a bucket, then covered them with clean, damp sand. This is the first year I have tried this, and I was very happy with the quality of the carrots. The rest of the carrots I overwintered right in the garden. My daughter dug them up for me last week, which was maybe a little late in the spring, but we kept hving rain and snow storms, so I hadn't gotten it done earlier. I am not much of a fan of canned carrots, so I decided to dehydrate them. I washed and sorted all the carrots I had left, and saved out the very best, un-blemished ones, and put them in the refrigerator crisper. I peeled the rest, and half I cubed and then blanched, then dehydrated. The other half I blanched whole, then shredded and dehydrated. The cubed carrots will work nicely in soups and stews, and the grated ones will be good for carrot cakes and in certain salads. They won't be as crisp as fresh, but rehydrated, they will be nice in pasta salads, etc.

By preserving these foods, I have eliminated waste, and thus saved money. I decided a long time ago, that even if I had to throw away half the potatoes I stored, I would come out ahead moneywise, over buying higher priced potatoes in the winter season. By preserving the potatoes I otherwise would have had to throw away, I have saved their cost. And it is so convenient to have canned potatoes to use in making quick meals. The dehydrated veggies will store for years when packed properly. I love salvaging foods that would have otherwise been wasted. That, my friends, is called provident living. And my goal is to live providently.
Vicki

BBQ Ham

My friend, Kim Tibbetts, gave me this recipe for BBQ Ham. This has been popular for church group dinners, it is something a little different, but it is good, and cheap, and serves a crowd. I have 2 comments about the recipe. First of all, it turned out really runny for me, so I would wait and only add the cup of water if the sauce seems too thick and seems to need it. The second comment is that it seemed a little salty to me. I may just be over-sensitive to the salt, I find that some things taste salty to me when others think it tastes fine. I am considering giving the ham a quick rinse next time, to reduce some of the salt. But the real test of this recipe is how well the family eats it. My 2 adult daughters who live with us have gotten into the fridge to eat leftovers. (They seldom want leftovers of our meals.) In other words, this is a winner. I am thinking leftovers of this will do well in the freezer, also, if you are not trying to feed a crowd. Or you can cut the recipe in half. I didn't, because I thought the half a can of tomato soup would likely go to waste, but you could have tomato soup for lunch with that half a can if you want to try that. The sauce has a really good flavor, and I think it would go well with other meats as well.
Vicki

BBQ Ham
5 lbs. shaved boneless ham (have the butcher shave it for you)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 c. water (I would only add this if it seems too thick without it)
1 c. ketchup
1 can tomato soup
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. ground black pepper
Sautee onion and celery in butter in a large pot. Add remaining ingredients except ham and mix well. Add ham, cover and simmer for an hour. (Or simmer in crockpot on high for an hour, or on low for 2-4 hours.) Stir occasionally. Serve on hard rolls. Good recipe for a crowd. Serves 20-25.

Easter Dessert

We had a lovely Easter, with most of our children, my mother, and my brother visiting. My brother is autistic, and we moved him to a group home last summer. He had an overnight visit with Mom for Easter. He can be a little funny about food, but dinner was a success. My brother approved of the ham, and he REALLY loved the homemade rolls. When dessert time came, he at first refused any, then changed his mind and took half a piece. He finished it all, which I took for high praise, after all the food he had already eaten.

Dessert was Soda Cracker Pie. It sounds a little wierd, but it turns out almost like a chewy meringue. It is very elegant looking and tasting, but it is a frugal dessert to make, and very easy.

Soda Cracker Pie
Mix:
18 soda cracker squares, crushed finely (in blender, food processor, or in a ziplock bag and crushed with a rolling pin)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped nuts, optional (I always skip the nuts, because youngest DD is allergic)

Beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Slowly add:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Fold soda cracker mixture into egg white mixture. Put in a greased pie pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes til light golden brown. Cool.

Top with 1 cup whipped cream (1/2 cup cream whipped with 2 Tbsp. sugar) or whipped topping (I have used both, and both work well) Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight, up to 5 days. Serve as is, or topped with sweetened fruit, pie filling, or chocolate sauce. Our favorite is strawberries. Serves 6

Uncle Jack

My husband has done my aunt and uncle's taxes for several years. Ever since their house fell into the river. When he heard about the tragedy, my DH kept saying, "tell them to make sure they get the tax benefits from that." They finally asked what he was talking about. Their tax preparation firm didn't know what to do for them, so DH finally just did their taxes for them, getting them substantial benefit from the loss of their house. DH has done their taxes ever since then.

Uncle Jack was extra generous this year. He paid about twice the amount DH normally charges them (to help us out because DH lost his job), and then invited DH and I to lunch. We went to a nice seafood restaraunt and had fresh halibut. We had a lovely visit.

I bring this up because Uncle Jack once told me his motto for life, which he lives so well.

Be Frugal
Work Hard
Be Generous

I hope I can learn to follow this motto as well as Uncle Jack has.
Vicki