Onions & Pantyhose

Is that the strangest title ever???

Our red onions did really well this year and we had a bunch we needed to store. I read that you can store them in pantyhose and tie a knot between the onions, then just cut off the ones you need! So, I thought that would be a great way to store and since I had 6 pairs in packages never used (buy 5 get 1 free)it would be the perfect way to use them! Haven't worn pantyhose in years since church attire went casual and panythose are a bit pase'!

So, I got out two pairs this morning, one black one tan, and began to put the onions one by one into a leg, knotting between each one. It worked well, but by the time I got one leg filled it was so long I couldn't hold it up!! It must have been over 6 feet tall and HEAVY!! Then, when I tried to add onions to the other leg, there was no way to tie it because of the other leg being filled. I couldn't manipulate the pantyhose!

I decided to just put the onions in the leg without knotting, but then they were so heavy I couldn't lift them at all. I really should have taken a picture of them like that...it was ridiculous! I realized it was not going to work to store them this way, so I dumped the onions out of the legs---the ones that were not tied, and then cut the 'panty' portion of the hose off leaving one leg of tied onions in a leg...that worked perfect! I cut both panty portions off and had four legs with tied onions in them. Not only did it work well, they looked sooooo cool!! The ones in black pantyhose are so pretty!

I hung them on the bathroom door to take a picture and the really look nice. I think it will be a great way to use up all those pantyhose and keep the onions dry while in storage! I think the funniest thing is just how much stretch you can get out of a pair of pantyhose!

I always look forward to the weather turning cool so we can get out our cast iron soup pot and cook over a fire. I have a lot of different recipes I use and thought I'd share some on the blog.

Not many of my friends have the opportunity to have a bonfire in their backyard, so we invite people here to enjoy it with us. We have one group of friends that really look forward to this time of the year, and even though we don't stay in touch much, they call as soon as the weather begins to cool off to put in their request for a soup night! I don't mind that at all. It's a very easy meal to cook.

I usually make either a loaf of bread or muffins or scones to go with the soup and someone usually provides the makings for smores. We all sit around in our warm sweaters or jackets and legs wrapped up in light blankets. The fire snaps and crackles and the light disappears and soon all you can see are the sparks from the fire floating into the sky. Sometimes we sing silly camp songs from our childhood, and other times we share memories or tell jokes or stories, but no one wants the evening to end. It's the most relaxing way to entertain!

I hope you try a new soup recipe and enjoy autumn with some of your friends and family. Let me know, I'll put the soup pot on and you can come and join us!!

RECIPES

This is one of our favorites!

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

Make tiny meatballs the size of marbles from your favorite meat loaf recipe. I use 1 lb. of ground beef (chicken, turkey, or sausage will work, too), 1 egg, some chopped onion (fine chop), and a little salt and pepper. I start out making tiny meatballs and get tired of making them so they get bigger as I go..but the small ones are nicer! Then bake in the oven at 350 until browned...about 20 minutes. They don't have to be fully cooked...they will cook in the soup.

In large kettle bring to a boil: 1 large can of chicken broth and 1 quart size can chopped tomatoes with basil and olive oil(I use DeiFratelli brand). When I have home canned tomatoes on hand, I use those, and add a couple of frozen basil cubes which I also freeze. This is a very forgiving soup so don't feel intimidated. When that boils, add pipi pasta. Yes, it's called (peepee)pipi pasta...it's teeny tiny pasta. I usually like a big pot, so I might add more chicken broth and then use the whole pkg. of pipi pasta.

When the pasta is cooked through, add one bag of fresh baby spinach leaves until they wilt and then serve and enjoy!

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

1 10 oz. pkg. broccoli (or use one fresh)

1 chopped onions

1/2 - 1 c. water

1/2 c. chopped celery

6 chicken bouillion cubes

8 oz. fine noodles

6 c. milk

1 lb. velveeta

Cook broccoli. Cook onions and celery in water untilt tender. Add 5-6 c. water and cubes. When boiling add noodles and cook, adding milk and cheese last to melt cheese.

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH CHOIRZO and CHICKEN

serves 6

2 Tb. olive oil

1 pound fresh shoirzo or other spicy sausage, casings removed

2 c. chopped peeled carrots

1 1/2 c. chopped onion

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

2 bay leaves

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 TB. chopped fresh thyme

5 c. (or more) chicken broth

3 - 15 oz. cans black beans, drained, rinsed

1 pound skinles boneless chicken breast halves, cut in 1/4 in. cubes

Heat oil in heavey pot and add choirzo and next 4 ingredients. Saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking up sausage with spoon, about 10 min. Add garlic and thyme and saute 2 minutes. Add 5 c. broth, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 min. Add beans and chicken, simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 10 min. adding more broth if desired. Discard bay leaves.

First Annual September Fest

What fun we had yesterday! Our oldest son, Ian, made a corn hole game for his dad for a birthday present and wanted us to invite people over to play the game and have drinks and food.

The weather was perfect. I was just a bit cool and sunny. We put a large pot of chili over the fire, and there was plenty of food and drinks! The little grandkids and cousins all played together well and had so much fun. We sat around and told stories from our childhoods or memories of each other over the years. There were lots of laughs and our grandson Jaden had a captive audience to show off his 'burping' abilities! The only problem was getting him to quit once he got started!

This morning, while having our coffee, Richard and I decided we hadn't had our fill of the 'soup pot' so we are going to build another fire today and put another pot over the fire! We might even have more smores!! There is just nothing like autumn in the country. The sound of crickets and cicadas, the bald eagle flying over, the peace and quiet! It's my favorite time of the year! And, it was only made better by a really great bunch of people. It was so much fun listening to Ian share memories and stories from his childhood that I never knew. Really, it was such a good blend of people here. SO MUCH FUN!~!

At some point during the day we dubbed it : The First Annual Stebbins September Fest!!

What a season it has been! We have been so busy the past couple of months with our garden and all the produce it gave us! I lost count, but know I either froze or canned over 300 quarts of food from our own garden! Corn, beans, zucchini, beets, hot peppers, green and red peppers, tomatoes which we juiced, canned whole, made marinara, and dried for winter use. We are now using butternut squash, and have hubbard squash in the garden, and will cover our potatoes, beets, and carrots with straw and dig them as we need them!

The weather has been perfect with enough sunshine and rain at just the right times. We were able to share green beans with a few people... in fact I think we gave away 5 bushels or more! We also shared corn, squash, and tomaotes. That's part of the fun of gardening. Sharing your abundance!

Last year we didn't have a garden. The year before we had canned a lot and felt that we could take a year off, but as soon as people started getting lettuce in their gardens, we began to look longingly as we passed by homes and saw people working the earth and planting and eating their food! SO, we decided to go all out. We had almost 1/4 acre planted this year. We planted 36 roma tomato plants! I purchased basil at the farmer's market and froze several batches of pesto and made enough basil cubes to take us until next season. These are nice to throw into soups or pasta dishes. They taste just like fresh basil was added!

Tonight we had zucchini casserole with our own red onions, and carrots diced and sliced. We also had fresh okra which I fried with a little oil and cornmeal to give it crunch. I made a fresh cabbage slaw and we had baked tilapia. It was soooo delicious.

Cole, our 18 yr. old, doesn't like vegetables (if you can imagine!) so he made himself some fries with fresh picked potatoes. There is nothing in the world like the taste of a fresh dug potato, unless it is maybe a warm sun-kissed tomato!

As much as I love eating all the fresh veggies, when it gets to be September my longings lean toward the soup pot. We have a large black iron pot which hangs on a tripod over a fire that we use to make large pots of soup. I love to bundle up in the evening, sit in a lawn chair by the fire as the soup cooks. When it's ready, we ladle it into large mugs and usually have muffins or homemade bread of some kind to accompany it. Sometimes we even end the evening with SMORES!!!

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I welcome the first song that the cicada brings, usually at the end of August, just before you have actually anticipated the seasons changing. As I write, the windows are open and they are singing their songs! Dusk is the best time of the day as the whole world seems to begin to shut down for a rest...all that is...except for those cicadas and the lone cricket who has made its way into the house...hiding under the kitchen sink...chirping just as you close your eyes to go to sleep!!

An Ordinary Life

We all get an ordinary life ... and it's good enough...it's good enough.

~ Garrison Keillor

I think may of us, from time to time, look at our lives and feel that it's ordinary, and wish for something more exciting or fulfilling. This weekend, as we celebrated the Fourth of July, I realized just how ordinary my life is and how happy I am that it IS!!

Spending the day with the people that mean the most to you; your family, around good food and drinks, lawn chairs and sprinklers, is the most contented feeling there is. You come away from a day like that feeling that life is good. It refreshes you and gives you perspective. I'm so thankful today for my family and also for my simple life. There is nothing like watching children play in the sprinkler, eating corn on the cob, and just plain loving each other, to restore your supply of joy and optimisim!

These days, so much of what you hear about America and our country is focused on the impact that the economical downturn has on our lives. While it does effect each of us, and mostly in a negative way, I need to focus on the blessings in my life in order to keep a positive attitude.

The simplicity of a summer picnic can bring so much joy. There's nothing like enojoying the outdoors over a simple meal of potato salad, corn on the cob, and a good burger. I'm glad I live in America and I'm also glad that my life is ... ORDINARY!! Spread some kindness today!

Great empires rise & fall, the famous come & go, cities boom & then they languish, but

kindness is a constant presence in America.

~ Garrison Keillor

Love Thy Neighbor

Well, this morning a friend of mine posted on facebook a link to a you tube video done by none other than a Baptist Church. Really??? It probably could have been most fundamental church. These people, I'm sure, consider themselves christians. I'll give the link here and you can be the judge. (maybe after reading this you won't want to judge!) I have been thinking all week about the answer that Jesus gave him disciples when asked "what is the greatest commandment?". His answer was - to love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, and strength and to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF!! Now...I don't know about you, but I would think that if you don't fulfill that last part you really aren't fulfilling ANY of it!


LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR does not mean love those who agree with you, love those who believe what you believe, but it means to love your neighbor...every single one of them. God is LOVE...at least that is what every one of these people in this video would agree with (although they say God hates the world)- or at least I think they would - and yet they are spewing hatred that must make God very sad. Maybe even offend Him!!! It doesn't even make sense to me to say God hates the world if you believe like most christians do..so like...duh...he hates what he made???


I try to be careful about judging people because I really do believe in the biblical principle that you are judged in the same way you judge others. It's basically the same as " WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND"... and you know what else is in the Bible? It talks about the fact that there will be those who make it to heaven that you wouldn't have expected there, and those who THOUGHT they'd make it and won't!


I for one, want to be a tolerant person. How can you love someone if you are judging them, criticizing them, or placing yourself above them??I grew up in a very conservative home and I fight all the time to 'think' for myself and not be influenced by the years of teaching that anything that is not what you agree with must be wrong. I thought all catholics were going to hell!! UNTIL I met some catholics that put me to shame!!


I feel like I've crossed over into a new dimension of my life. I no longer actively 'seek' for approval from other people. If you don't agree with me you have that right. I may not agree with you, but what does that have to do with love?? This video is so damaging to what I believe is the true message of the Bible and that is, that GOD LOVES....he loved the tax collectors (AIG crooks, IRS, those that drove our economy into the ground), he loved the prostitute ( gays, lesbians, pimps, hookers)...he loved everyone no matter what they did or represented. I'm not saying he accepted their lifestyles or choices.

Do you really think your purpose as a christian in this world is to judge??? I might have actually thought that at one point in my life...but I am certainly not there now. I want to love people. I don't care if they believe like I do or not. What good does our 'christianity' or 'christian lifestyle' do us if we only associate with those that believe like we do?? Please, don't judge me for wanting to be a loving person. I guess if you don't agree with me on this, too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyEjpl0_XE