Tuesday Tidbits - Bye Bye Birdie

Last week, I shared pictures of the Squatters, Winnie, Will and their babies, living in our back porch. It has been such a delight to watch these hard working parents take care of their young. Like all creatures, the time comes when they must make their own way in the world. For the Squatters, yesterday was that day.

Winnie and Will began pulling pieces out of their nest early in the morning. (NOTE TO HUMANS - Make the nest as uncomfortable as possible if you want your young adults to leave.)
Before long, the young were exploring just outside their nest.

Then they got a little braver and sat just outside the nest. Before long, we had babies all over our back porch testing their wings and exploring the big world.


All too soon, they found their way off the porch and into the cover of the azaleas and day lilies bordering the side of the house. From my kitchen window, I could see Will and Winnie flitting and fluttering over these shrubs keeping a close eye on the youngsters. I observed the young ones climb their way to the top of the azaleas, then shove off to give their wings a test. From the kitchen window, I saw one get great height and distance until, PLUNK! it flew into one of the pillars on our porch. I had to laugh.

Late in the afternoon, I saw Will back at the nest chattering up a storm. Then he moved to the back of one of the chairs on our porch and continued to chatter at the nest. Before long, I saw a little head pop over the side of the nest. With the encouragement of Will, the little one finally took the leap to the porch floor then followed Will into the bushes.

This morning, I sit on my back porch missing all the activity and noise from these tiny little creatures. I worry about the babies. Every now and then, I will hear a small chirp that sounds like one of the nestlings. Then I look to the nest and remember it is empty. Truly, the empty nest syndrome.

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Several months ago, I was one of the lucky winners of the "Not a Contest" that EllynAnne of Apron Memories had. Due to some delivery problems, I finally got my prize package. Even though I knew what it would contain, it was such a delight to open the box and touch the wonderful items within.

There were all three of EllynAnne's books.

There was this cute pouch made from tea towels and embroidered with a vintage pattern from Aunt Martha's transfers.

A peek inside the pouch...

...that contained six tea towels...

...and all of these embroidery items.

Thank you to EllynAnne and Chris Price of Colonial Patterns for such a fabulous treat.

*NOTE - Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.

Tuesday Tidbits - I Lied and Contest Entry

Is that a face only a grandmother could love? That is our cute grandson, Mr. Porter Pants.

I've been looking for one image to use for my Tuesday Tidbits. Last week I had the pineapples, which reminds me of tidbits...pineapple tidbits. This week I wanted to share this picture as it reminds me of tidbits...all over his face! Maybe I will just use different pictures each week...

I lied. My last post was that I was taking a blog vacation as I'm going back *home* for a week. But, I made the mistake of checking email and my blog roll and read about this giveaway. How could I not enter! Click on the Apronista button to see the giveaway.

Yesterday afternoon, I visited with my 86 year old neighbor, Anne. She never throws anything away. Really. She saves everything. When I left her house yesterday, I had four bags full of vintage goodies and a vintage toaster. I'll have to share those with all my Vintage Thursday pals once I return.

Now, I must TURN OFF my computer and get packing. Literally!

Now I'm taking a

See you next week!

Finished for Friday - Another Needle Case and I WON!

Can it be Friday already? I'm sitting here thinking of all the things I need to get done in the next few days before I head back to Kansas to visit family and friends. And as usual, when I'm stressed, I do nothing or I try to do everything all at once accomplishing nothing.

This week, I finished the needle case and pin cushion I'm giving to my mom for Mother's Day while I am *home*. You can see one similar here.

I got several things finalized for Daughter P and SIL A's wedding reception, including finding a dress and shoes.

I've made two trips to the post office to check our new P.O. box for mail only to arrive home and find our mailbox on the house stuffed with mail. What a mess! If it is delivered to our house today, I will make ANOTHER trip to the post office to find out what is happening. If you missed my rant about my *enjoyable* trips to the post office, you can read that here.

Back in March, Kelly at (un)Deniably Domestic led me to a give away at Apron Memories, ElleynAnne Geisel's blog. My entry for this give away can be seen here. The random drawing took place today and I am one of the six lucky winners! WOOHOO! You can check out all the goodies I won here.

Now I must get busy cutting and sewing ten yards of red gingham fabric into table mats and runners for the wedding reception. The reception's theme is picnic. I ordered black plastic ants to go on the gingham mats for the tables. They should have been here by now but with our messed up mail delivery, who knows where they could be! Makes me want to curse!

Don't forget to visit threeundertwo at Lit and Laundry to see what others have accomplished this week. Tell us what you Finished for Friday.

Blue Plate Mondays - Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken and Potatoes

Time for Blue Plate Mondays at Kelly’s (un)Deniably Domestic. Check out the great recipe ideas that others are posting. Yummy! While you’re there, check out the cute apron Kelly made and what you can do to win it.

A working woman’s best friend in the kitchen has got to be the slow cooker. And why not? Put it in the slow cooker before you head to work and dinner is ready when you get home. A Yahoo search for crock pot recipes produces 21,700,000 hits!

When I was working, I used my slow cooker on Sundays to fix soup that I would take for lunch the following week. It also would be called into action at least one day a week to fix dinner. My favorite cookbook is Busy Woman’s Slow Cooker Cookbook by Sharon and Gene McFall and you would be able to pick it off my shelf and know I have used it often.

The following recipe is not one that came from this cookbook, but it is one I make often. The chicken is supposed to taste like a rotisserie chicken you would buy at a grocery deli. I’m not so sure about that, but it is good and easy.

Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken and Potatoes

1 whole chicken*

Olive oil

Rotisserie chicken seasoning

Baking potatoes

Aluminum foil

Clean chicken inside and out. Rub a little olive oil over the chicken or spray with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle liberally with the rotisserie seasoning. Three to four tablespoons is not too much.

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Place the foil wrapped potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker. If you do not want the potatoes, roll three or four wads of foil into two or three inch balls. Do not put water in the slow cooker. Place the chicken, breast side down, on top of the foil wrapped potatoes or foil balls. The aluminum foil is what gives it the deli taste. Cook on HIGH (will not come out the same if cooked on low) for four to six hours. A three pound chicken usually cooks in four hours.

*Do not spend extra money buying a chicken labeled as a roasting chicken. Most stores take large fryers, repackage as roasting chickens and charge more per pound than for a fryer.

The potatoes can be eaten as you would a baked potato, although they are more like potatoes from a roast. I have thrown two or three cloves of garlic in the slow cooker, then made garlic mashed potatoes.

Leftovers? I’ve used the leftover chicken in quesadillas or a casserole. There will be a lot of liquid in the slow cooker. Use it and any leftover chicken with a bag of egg noodles for chicken and noodles. If you aren’t planning on using the liquid soon, freeze it in a zippered bag or container to use for soup. Don’t throw away the bones and skin either. Put those in a freezer bag and freeze. Next time you have chicken, add that carcass. Once you have three or four chicken carcasses, use them to make stock.

Join us for Blue Plate Mondays. Tell us what’s cooking at your place.

Tuesday Tidbits - TUSAL is Not a Misspelled City in Oklahoma

If you spend any time in the blogosphere, you have probably found that lots of crafters, quilters, stitchers and sewers (Hmmm? Maybe I should say “people who sew”) have blogs. They often come together in SALs, Stitch Alongs, to compete with one another in completing a project. The hostess of the SAL sets the rules and people interested in that particular activity may join. Everyone seems to have a lot of fun.

Since I am a *flitter*, working on this project then moving to another project and another before anything else is complete, I wouldn’t do well in most of these competitions. I’m also too humble and too much of a perfectionist to think that any of my work would be good enough to pass along to someone else.

However, one of my bloggy friends, threeundertwo at "Lit and Laundry", led me to the TUSAL, Totally Useless Stitch Along at "Dragon My Needle". I can so do this! No worry about perfection or completing something in a given time frame. For the rules of the TUSAL, go here.

Here is my TUSAL so far.


Three containers? What can I say? I've always been an overachiever. But here is why I have three containers:

This vase holds the tidbits from the embroidery and crocheting I do while watching television in the evening.

This vase sits beside my sewing machine. It gets all the tidbits from the starts of seams, seams I have to rip out, basting stitches, etc.

This vase sits beside the ironing board. It gets scraps of fabric too small to go in my scrap basket, selvages trimmed from fabric, and other bits of fabric "debris". May need to get a bigger container for this one. Check back at the next new moon to see how I am progressing with my TUSAL.

The azaleas are in full bloom in North Carolina. They are gorgeous. I think they have more blooms than last year. Ann, our 86 year old neighbor, says, “If you come to North Carolina when the azaleas are in bloom, you will never want to leave.”

Here are some pictures of the azaleas in our yard.

Most of the red buds have leafed already, but the dogwoods are in full flower. I’m anxious to see what our magnolia tree looks like this year.A couple weeks ago, I put out the hummingbird feeders. To my delight, I have seen a couple scouts feeding from them this week. I fed three or four pairs last summer. Hopefully, I will have that many and more this year.

The wrap around porch reconstruction has been stalled waiting for a mason to replace the brick foundation. He was here today for a bit and will be back tomorrow. Now maybe things will move along quickly.

The city did come by and picked up most of the old porch that could not be salvaged.

Saturday, Hubs, daughter K, grandson Boogie and I took a day trip to the Crystal Coast of NC. The purpose was to look at some vacation properties for our upcoming family vacation in September. We found this place. It is absolutely perfect for our family of five kids, spouses, and two grandsons. This is a picture from the beach side of the house. To see picture of the inside, click here.



Hubs is like a kid waiting for Christmas. So I’ve added the countdown clock to my left sidebar just for him. Lots of time left but lots of projects and plans in between that will make time pass quickly.

Blue Plate Monday - Menu Planning and Pasta Shells with Italian Sausage and Broccoli

What’s for dinner? Do you hate asking yourself that question as much as I do? Years ago, I learned the way to avoid answering that question was menu planning. There have been times when I’ve set aside the practice for one reason or another, but I eventually make my way back.

Since our big move almost eighteen months ago, I have not been very diligent in my menu planning. When Kelly announced Blue Plate Mondays, I decided I would get back to my menu planning again.

My system isn’t very sophisticated, but it works for me. Here’s how I plan:


• Check to see what has been stashed in the freezer.
Since I usually only buy meat on sale, there is probably something in there that I purchased but haven’t used yet. This week, I found a package of sweet Italian sausage, a large chuck roast (too big for just the two of us), and a container of spaghetti sauce.
• Look at this week’s sales circular from the local grocery store.
The only grocery store in my town besides Wal-Mart is Food Lion and they have four stores. Guess where I shop. Since I typically only shop the outer edges of the grocery store, I’m most interested in the meat, produce, and dairy items on sale. This week, Food Lion has pork tenderloin, two pound chubs of ground chuck, center cut pork chops and packages of frozen boneless chicken breasts (buy one, get one). In the produce section, they have yellow and zucchini squash and broccoli crowns on sale. They also have Birds Eye Viola! Pasta meals in the frozen section and New York brand Texas Garlic Toast. I’ll pick up one or two of each of these items to throw in the freezer to use if I need a meal in a hurry.
• Take a quick look through past menu lists.
As you can see from the above photo, I keep all my menu lists. I look to see if there is something we haven’t had in a while or if there was a new recipe I tried that we really liked.
• Look through my file of new things to try.
If I am looking through a cookbook and find a recipe I like, I note the name of the recipe along with the name of the cookbook and page number on a list. I might also note the key ingredients. A lot of times, I find recipes when I’m browsing the internet so I make a copy and put it in my file. My file also contains recipes torn from magazines or the back of boxes or cans. There is no real organization to my file other than a section for main dishes, side dishes, and things to bake (cookies, cakes, breads, etc.)
Each week, I try to include one new recipe, whether it is a main dish or a side dish, in my menu planning. If the recipe is from a cookbook, I note where the recipe can be found on my weekly menu. Otherwise, I paper clip the recipe to my menu list. After trying the recipe, I make a note on the menu list as to whether we liked it and if I should fix it again.

Wow! This looks like a daunting task in itself. But I’ve been doing it this way for so long that it really only takes me fifteen to twenty minutes. Then I sit down with my trusty yellow note pad and make out my menu for the week. While I’m making out my menu, I also make out a grocery list. My grocery list isn’t anything elaborate either, but I do list things by section: meat, produce, dairy, etc. Saves time in the grocery store which makes a task I dislike a much more pleasant experience.

Here’s what my menu looks like for this week:

M – Pasta shells with broccoli and Italian sausage, green salad, copy cat Macaroni Grill rosemary bread.

T – Leftovers from Monday. *We eat a lot of leftovers. We don’t mind them and it saves me from having to cook every night. If there are still leftovers after two dinners, Hubs knows it is fair game for lunch.

W – Grilled chicken breast, herbed rice, sautéed zucchini and yellow squash w/diced Italian tomatoes. *Since Hubs is the master griller in our house, I try to include something grilled each week which eliminates me having to cook the entire meal every night. I will have him grill the entire bag of chicken breasts so they can be used in menu items for the next day or two.

TH – Salad with grilled chicken and honey mustard dressing.

F – Stir fry using grilled chicken and any fresh veggies left OR omelets and toast.

S – Fish sticks, mac and cheese, peas. *Our grandson will be visiting so I need something “kid” friendly. Thankfully, Hubs also likes this meal.

Because I picked up pork chops and ground chuck on sale this week, I already have two menu items on my list for next week. I’m getting back in the groove!

The recipe I would like to share with you this week is the pasta dish we will be having for dinner tonight. This is one of those recipes that has no set amount of ingredients. Just play it by ear for your family.

Pasta Shells with Broccoli and Italian Sausage
8 – 16 ounces of medium shell pasta
1 package Italian sweet sausage links (The sausage I use comes in a package with a little over a pound in it.)
2 – 3 cups broccoli florets
1 sweet red pepper, diced or cut into thin strips
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (more or less to you taste)Tablespoons crushed rosemary Dried or fresh, whatever is on hand
Olive oil

Cut casing from sausage or leave casing on and cut into 1” pieces. Brown sausage in large skillet. Just before sausage is completely browned, throw in garlic, red pepper and rosemary. Finish cooking sausage while sautéing the pepper. You may need or want to add a little olive oil. In the mean time, cook pasta according to package directions. When the pasta is two minutes from done for your liking, throw the broccoli in the pot. After pasta is cooked and broccoli is tender crisp, drain well. Place pasta in a large bowl and pour the sausage mixture over top. Stir well. Serve with grated Italian cheeses.

Part of Kelly’s give away is sharing a photo of us wearing a favorite apron. Go to Kelly's blog here to see the cute apron she has made and the guidelines for winning it.

Let me say that I am really not as "plump" as these pictures portray. These pictures were taken in December and we had NO heat. I have four or five layers on underneath those aprons.

Above is my favorite vintage apron. It has a bib and hangs below my knees. Make sure you OH! and AH! over that beautiful loaf of cheddar cheese braid coming out of the oven.

For Christmas, I made aprons to give as gifts to four girlfriends, five daughters/daughter in law, my mom and Larry's mom. I picked out material that reminded me of each person and included vintage buttons from my grandma's button box. I had to make one for myself when I found this fabric with bees. To see all the aprons I made at Christmas you can go here.

Join us for Blue Plate Monday at (un)Deniably Domestic and see what others are cooking for dinner. Tell us what's cooking at your place.

Tuesday Tidbits - Kelly's Giveaway, Easter, and Neighborhood News

Kelly at (un)Deniably Domestic started hosting Blue Plate Mondays this week. Each week, participants of BPM share recipes and more. She has made the cutest apron to give away. Go to her blog here to see it and what you can do to make it yours. (I've already got my name in the mason jar!) Look for Kelly's Blue Plate on my blog Monday to see what's cooking here.Hubs and I hosted Easter dinner here on Sunday. The daughter and son in law came up from Raleigh bringing the grandson and a friend of daughter's. We dined on barbecued ribs, grilled veggies (sweet potatoes, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash), cole slaw, deviled eggs, and home made rolls. Dessert was chocolate sheet cake, home made frozen custard and these cute bunny cakes. They were more frosting and coconut than cake.

This was Boogie's first Easter to hunt eggs. He had to open each egg to make sure there was candy in it.


Lots of police cars racing around the neighborhood all afternoon. Our eighty six year old neighbor crossed the street to tell us her friend called and told her to stay in the house as there had been a shooting a block away. The shooter was on the run. Ann had to come out and look down the block to see if she could see anything. Another typical day in our neighborhood.

My Entry for the FABULOUS not-a-contest GIVEAWAY

Apron Memories is hosting a contest with the most FABULOUS prizes! The entry requirements were so easy, I couldn't NOT participate. Click here to see why I am so excited.

When we moved into our fixer upper's (That would me my husband!) dream, the kitchen was going to be the first thing we remodeled. Gut it, redesign it and Viola! The kitchen of my dreams. After almost a year of using a crock pot, electric roaster, microwave, electric griddle and our gas grill to fix our meals, I told my husband I didn't want to go through another holiday season with out a stove or oven. The fridge is still in the dining room, but at least we now have a good used stove.

Here are a couple of pictures of my depressing kitchen.
Because it doesn't look like I'm going to be getting that dream kitchen soon, during my spring cleaning frenzy I decided to "spruce up" the kitchen and at least make it look a little homier. Not wanting to spend any money, I dug out some of my vintage kitchen things, including a table cloth. Then I dug around on my apron rack. Here are some pictures of the results.
It is not my dream kitchen yet, but with many of my much loved vintage things displayed, it is a much nicer place to work.