The year 2009 was one of tremendous growth and introspection for me. So many of the circumstances and situations I found myself a part of caused me to dig deeper and try to understand why I think the way I think, why I feel the way I feel, and why I do the things I do. I still don’t have all the answers. In fact, I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface, but one realization I had this weekend has propelled me into a greater depth of self-discovery.
I’ve always had a love for scrapbooking, card making, sewing, and other visual-type home arts. But I’ve never paused to think about why. While talking with John about a new project or two that I was just starting up, I found myself feeling so excited about them and speaking with a greater passion for what I was doing than I have had in a very long time. I can’t quote myself perfectly, and these thoughts have had more time to distill since then, but essentially, here is what I discovered.
What I really love is the process of taking raw materials and shaping them into something of value. It’s exciting to look at a length of fabric and think of all the possibilities of what I can make from it. I love to start with a blank Aida cloth and a few dozen skeins of embroidery floss and shape a cross-stitched picture from it. I delight in taking a stack of pictures and an assortment of papers and arrange them into something that enhances the memory associated with them. It’s the process of creating that is often just as fulfilling than the actual finished product.
As intrinsically rewarding as creating is, the thing that enhances the completed project’s worth is when I am not doing it solely for my own benefit. I find myself thinking throughout the process “my daughter is going to love this new dress for her doll” or “I hope Sister Smith enjoys this baby blanket” or “John and the kids will really like this scrapbook” or “everyone is going to love these cookies,” then when they do, I feel fulfilled. Whether or not my daughter ends up using the doll dress every day matters less to me than the first smile it puts on her face. Perhaps that scrapbook will gather more dust than attention, but if it provides my family the chance to relive the memory just once, it was worth the effort.
I don’t think it was mere coincidence that I heard three different talks on talents today. It was a blessing to know that I have talents that I’ve worked hard to develop and that the Lord has helped me to increase them. It was also a reminder that there are things I used to spend a lot of time on that I virtually don’t do at all now. I have lost a significant portion of what I had because those things which we neglect will eventually disappear from our lives. I also have a hope that things I haven’t learned to do yet are not entirely out of reach if I’m willing to spend a portion of my time on them to learn.
So what good is all of this introspection? By recognizing that there’s a pattern—a common thread—that is woven through all of my hobbies and interests, it gives me clearer direction to move forward. I feel less selfish spending time doing the things I love to do and more purposeful in doing them. If I decide to reclaim lost talents or develop new ones, I will better be able to enjoy them if I can apply to them the principle I learned about myself—that I love process as much as product and the joy of bringing satisfaction to others. Then the journey is just as delightful as the destination.
http://intuitivehomemaking.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bean and Bacon Soup
It occurred to me lately that I could post tried-and-true favorites here too. True to form, though, this one took a year or two to perfect. When my husband was little, his favorite Campbell’s soup was Bean & Bacon. That hasn’t changed, actually, but I can’t afford to buy enough pre-prepared soup to feed my entire family and have them all go away full. I had to come up with an alternative version about twelve years ago. So I read the ingredient list on the can: tomatoes, beans, carrots, onion, bacon . . . how hard could it be? The difficult part would be the beans. The only beans I grew up eating were green or jelly, so it took some experimentation to find a method that worked every time.
Cooking beans so they are soft and flavorful, yet do not cause hours of discomfort afterward is the tricky part. I have since learned that most of the gasses are released from beans during their first soaking. So anytime I plan to cook beans for dinner (chili, refried beans, etc), I have to think about it the night before.
Put the measured amount of beans in a bowl or crockpot with 2-3 times the amount of water to cover them. Let them soak all night and drain in the morning.
That should take care of most of the unpleasantness of beans.
So here’s my original recipe, though I always have to double it now that half of my kids are as big as I am. I’d triple it, but my crockpot can’t hold that much.
1 ½ c. white beans (amount set to soak the night before)http://intuitivehomemaking.blogspot.com/
Cooking beans so they are soft and flavorful, yet do not cause hours of discomfort afterward is the tricky part. I have since learned that most of the gasses are released from beans during their first soaking. So anytime I plan to cook beans for dinner (chili, refried beans, etc), I have to think about it the night before.
Put the measured amount of beans in a bowl or crockpot with 2-3 times the amount of water to cover them. Let them soak all night and drain in the morning.
That should take care of most of the unpleasantness of beans.
Place the beans in a crockpot and cover with the same amount of water as before. Let them cook at least 4-5 hours on high or 6+ hours on low, depending on when you want to finish the soup. Do not add ANYTHING else to the beans while they are cooking. The minute you do, the beans stop cooking, and crunchy-bean soup is disgusting. Test the beans occasionally and when they are soft enough for your personal preference, then you can finish making the soup. And I always drain the beans a second time—just to be sure.
So here’s my original recipe, though I always have to double it now that half of my kids are as big as I am. I’d triple it, but my crockpot can’t hold that much.1 ½ c. white beans (amount set to soak the night before)
15 oz can tomato sauce
3 c. water
2 T. butter
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
½ c. real bacon bits (I hate fake bacon bits. This is not Bean and TVP soup. You could cook your own bacon and use the drippings instead of butter, but frankly, that’s too much work for me).
½ t. liquid smoke (key for great flavor—available in the grocery store by the Worchestershire sauce and similar oddities)
½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
Place cooked & drained beans back in crockpot along with tomato sauce and water. (Note: sometimes, since I’m doubling the recipe, I’ll make one can diced tomatoes for a chunkier soup) Sauté remaining ingredients together.
Add them to the crockpot. Allow to simmer for at least an hour before serving. The longer it cooks, the better the flavor. It’s even better the next day, but even with a double batch, none of it ever makes it that long. 
3 c. water
2 T. butter
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
½ c. real bacon bits (I hate fake bacon bits. This is not Bean and TVP soup. You could cook your own bacon and use the drippings instead of butter, but frankly, that’s too much work for me).
½ t. liquid smoke (key for great flavor—available in the grocery store by the Worchestershire sauce and similar oddities)
½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
Place cooked & drained beans back in crockpot along with tomato sauce and water. (Note: sometimes, since I’m doubling the recipe, I’ll make one can diced tomatoes for a chunkier soup) Sauté remaining ingredients together.
Add them to the crockpot. Allow to simmer for at least an hour before serving. The longer it cooks, the better the flavor. It’s even better the next day, but even with a double batch, none of it ever makes it that long. 
Unanimous favorite among teens, tweens, gradeschoolers, and parents in this house.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Year Projects
Recently I discovered that my favorite skirt was threadbare at the waist. Didn’t look so nice or dressy anymore. I found some beautiful microfiber material on the JoAnn’s clearance rack for about $3 a yard, and used the skirt itself as a pattern. Fortunately, it was a pretty simple design—six squares. A front and back each consisted of three panels. The largest two squares measure from waist to knee. The four smaller squares measure from knee to calf. I hemmed the four smaller panels on two sides and sewed two to the front and two to the back. Then I sewed front to back and put in an elastic waistband. I think I spent more time thinking that I needed to do this project than it actually took to do.
Also last April, my favorite purse ever—a souvenir from Disneyland—was stolen. Crushed, I bought a cheap one that I could make do with until I found a better replacement. Well, this week, my not-so-favorite white purse (guess why it was on clearance?) was so dingy that I couldn’t stand it anymore. Being too cheap to take it to the cleaners, I decided to wash it. Um, bad idea. Won’t be using it again, as the brown leather trim leeched into the rest of the color and the whole thing looks moldy.
Fortunately, I used this as a good excuse to make myself exactly what I wanted. As I look back , it was a good thing that a couple of weeks before my patchwork plaid Mickey bag disappeared to who-knows-where, I had mended the nearly worn-out fabric handle and learned a little about how it was put together. I’ve also made my kids tote bags this year for their music books, sling bags for extra clothes, and quilted bags for ballet shoes. I guess I was finally ready for an experiment without a pattern.
I particularly loved the patchwork look of my Mickey purse, so I rummaged in my bin of fabric that hasn’t seen the light of day in several years. There I found large scraps of microfiber in brown and green. I cut two-inch squares and sewed them together like a quilt. Once it looked big enough, I sewed it into a bag shape. It looked like it needed something still. I cut out a long strip of brown for the handle and decided to add another long strip of brown for the top trim.
Then it needed a lining, and my biggest remaining piece was in green. I laid down the purse on top of it and cut two panels (front & back) about ½” bigger than the outside. It needed to be exactly the same size, plus a seam allowance. I also knew that I needed several pockets for all the junk I carry around, so I cut two more long strips of fabric out of the same material. Each strip was then sewn to a front or back panel, with vertical stitches to create the individual pockets. I also sewed on a couple of strips of Velcro to the larger pockets to make sure they stayed closed. The lining front and back was then sewn together, leaving a hole in the bottom to turn the whole project right-side-out when done.
I really didn’t want to mess with a zipper like my old Mickey purse had, but I thought a nice button closure would work. One more small strip of material with a buttonhole was the last needed addition. I sewed the handles and buttonhole strip to the patchwork bag, then added the brown strip of top trim. Finally, I sewed the lining to the outside, right-sides-together. After turning the purse right-side-out, I hand-stitched the lining closed. It has enough room for all the typical things you’d find in a woman’s purse, and plenty of space to throw in my wallet and camera (which goes everywhere with me).
I’m actually quite astonished that it turned out as well as it did. I think a lot of it has to do with having nice material. I’m actually such a sucker for beautiful material that I have piles of various kinds in my workroom and I constantly tell myself “I won’t buy any more until I use all this up.” Which works until the next time I see something to die for on the clearance rack . . . but that’s another story.
Unfortunately, I only have finished-project photos because I never really intended to post these to this blog at all. Not everyone sews, and fewer people are excited about making something without a pattern. But it’s by request of my husband that I write about my newest projects, just for the record. Thanks for challenging me, John. As much as anything, it shows frugality. My new skirt cost about $6 and the purse didn’t cost me a thing (except about four hours).
What I can say is that if you have a big enough need and an eye for observing a few important details, nearly any creation is possible if it’s worth the time to figure it out and do it. My teenage son kept asking me, “you didn’t have a pattern for this?” My reply, “No, but I knew what I wanted it to look like, so I kept fiddling with it until it seemed right.” He promptly took off with my bag of fleece scraps from the five pairs of Christmas PJ’s that I made last month and cut up squares for a patchwork pillow. Maybe I’ll post his progress instead—honestly, it’s a pattern I don’t think I’m ready to try.
http://www.intuitivehomemaking.blogspot.com/
Also last April, my favorite purse ever—a souvenir from Disneyland—was stolen. Crushed, I bought a cheap one that I could make do with until I found a better replacement. Well, this week, my not-so-favorite white purse (guess why it was on clearance?) was so dingy that I couldn’t stand it anymore. Being too cheap to take it to the cleaners, I decided to wash it. Um, bad idea. Won’t be using it again, as the brown leather trim leeched into the rest of the color and the whole thing looks moldy.
Fortunately, I used this as a good excuse to make myself exactly what I wanted. As I look back , it was a good thing that a couple of weeks before my patchwork plaid Mickey bag disappeared to who-knows-where, I had mended the nearly worn-out fabric handle and learned a little about how it was put together. I’ve also made my kids tote bags this year for their music books, sling bags for extra clothes, and quilted bags for ballet shoes. I guess I was finally ready for an experiment without a pattern.
I particularly loved the patchwork look of my Mickey purse, so I rummaged in my bin of fabric that hasn’t seen the light of day in several years. There I found large scraps of microfiber in brown and green. I cut two-inch squares and sewed them together like a quilt. Once it looked big enough, I sewed it into a bag shape. It looked like it needed something still. I cut out a long strip of brown for the handle and decided to add another long strip of brown for the top trim.
I really didn’t want to mess with a zipper like my old Mickey purse had, but I thought a nice button closure would work. One more small strip of material with a buttonhole was the last needed addition. I sewed the handles and buttonhole strip to the patchwork bag, then added the brown strip of top trim. Finally, I sewed the lining to the outside, right-sides-together. After turning the purse right-side-out, I hand-stitched the lining closed. It has enough room for all the typical things you’d find in a woman’s purse, and plenty of space to throw in my wallet and camera (which goes everywhere with me).
Unfortunately, I only have finished-project photos because I never really intended to post these to this blog at all. Not everyone sews, and fewer people are excited about making something without a pattern. But it’s by request of my husband that I write about my newest projects, just for the record. Thanks for challenging me, John. As much as anything, it shows frugality. My new skirt cost about $6 and the purse didn’t cost me a thing (except about four hours).
What I can say is that if you have a big enough need and an eye for observing a few important details, nearly any creation is possible if it’s worth the time to figure it out and do it. My teenage son kept asking me, “you didn’t have a pattern for this?” My reply, “No, but I knew what I wanted it to look like, so I kept fiddling with it until it seemed right.” He promptly took off with my bag of fleece scraps from the five pairs of Christmas PJ’s that I made last month and cut up squares for a patchwork pillow. Maybe I’ll post his progress instead—honestly, it’s a pattern I don’t think I’m ready to try.
http://www.intuitivehomemaking.blogspot.com/
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