Visiting Traditions

Making fresh holiday wreaths

Every overnight visit at the Grandparents involved certain traditions: a visit to the state park, a walking tour of the neighborhood, signing songs on the swing, dinner of beans and cornbread, a breakfast of hotcakes, a game (or four) of hide-and-seek, and a craft project.

Grandma loved crafts. Sewing was her favorite but she’d occasionally branch out into other things. I remember painting rocks for the garden, making leather and bead key chains, and sewing plastic canvas calendars and coasters. Each visit, the project was a little different. Most times, we'd make gifts for our parents. Occasionally, we'd help Grandma make them for craft sales.

Since we’ve moved away from the city, we get more overnight guests than we used to. And more often than not, I find myself planning a craft project to do when guests are here, just like my Grandma Mary Jean used to.

Our guests have made fresh pasta and pressed their own apple cider; painted rock “love-bugs” for Valentines, carved pumpkins for Halloween, fashioned scarecrows for Fall, and made home-made wreaths for Christmas.

Doing a creative project with people you love is a fun way to learn new things, make memories, and provide your guests with something tangible to take home.

What sort of craft projects have you shared with others?

Classic Decorations



Left: 1962 "Popular Mechanics" magazine cover. Right: Hanging same Santa display in 2010.

 This entry is inspired not by my grandparents, but by my husband's. In the mid 1960s, his Grandpa was inspired enough by patterns published in the "Popular Mechanics" magazine to make his own outdoor Christmas display. With one 4x8 sheet of plywood, a jigsaw, and some exterior paint, he and hundreds of other folks like him created wooden displays like this one and hung them up year after year.

Believe it or not, this same Santa display decorated my husband's parent's house when he was growing up. And this weekend, it now decorates our house.

Yes, it is almost 50 years old. And yes, the paint is thin and flaking in spots. But you know what? It just fits. Unlike the blow-up snowmen and LED-tipped lights, this display will still be clever and appropriate in another 50 years. That's the beauty of sticking with the classics: they are always in style.

I feel the same way about my Christmas music, foods, crafts, and indoor decorations: the older classics just mean more to me this time of year. I guess because Christmas is the perfect season for nostalgia.

Here's hoping your holiday's a classic.

Air-Popped Corn

Poppin' corn

When I was growing up at my parents' house, popcorn was made in one of two ways: in a heavy bottomed pan coated with vegetable oil, or in later years, in the microwave.

The former invariably turned out scorched and the latter had a false texture and plasticy taste (probably from the artificial butter). Needless to say, I wasn't partial to either kind.

My grandparents, on the other hand, had an air-popper at their house. On visits, we'd get to watch as the hot air whirled those hard kernels into fluff that would float up and fall into the bowl. The hot mound would then be drizzled (liberally, of course) with melted butter and sprinkled with salt. (If you mouth isn't watering right now, you aren't human.)

My grandparents' popcorn, made in this way, was always light, flavorful, and delicious. This is the only way I make popcorn now.

How do you like your popcorn?

Taking the "Career" out of Work

Tugged by Anita Kunz

One of the things I'm still getting used to in this simpler version of life is not having a career. I made the decision to step off the corporate ladder when we moved away from the city several years ago. And for the most part, I don't regret that decision. I appreciate life more and have gained a kind of balance that just wasn't possible with my former line of work.

However, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of simply working. I have a decent job but still often treat it as I would a career: orienting my tasks towards personal growth and constantly searching for new ways to add value. I even find myself thinking about my work sometimes when I get home.

I know, conceptually, that all this extra work isn’t necessary. All that is expected of me, and all that I get paid for, is to fill the needs of my job description and go home. Doing more than that won’t get me promoted because there isn’t a job above me. Pay raises, if given, aren’t given here for performance. Why waste precious time and energy on doing things that won’t benefit me?

What I really wish I could do is just treat my job the way my grandparents used to treat theirs. They would go to work every day (they both worked for the city—Grandpa in maintenance and Grandma in the accounting department), put in their 8 hours, and go home. That’s it. Their jobs weren’t exciting but they were comfortable with what they did and who they worked with. And they filled their time outside of work with more important things, like family and friends. This view of work is what I want to fully grasp for myself.

Somewhere along the line, our society became so obsessed with having careers and constantly growing in those careers that we’ve forgotten what it was to just work. We’ve lost the ability (or no longer respect the ability?) to get good at something and do it well and consistently for 30 years or more. I’ve found that constantly striving for the new, better, and improved is exhausting and stressful. And if it takes up your life energy outside the workplace, what good is it? That kind of life has definitely lost its appeal for me.

So I will continue my struggle to unlearn the ways of the corporate world and put aside my desire to better myself in the workplace. One step I've taken is to use my free time at work for something that makes me happy: hence, this blog.

What are your thoughts about jobs and careers? What do you wish for yourself and why?

Repair, Repurpose, Reuse

Ripped

Repairing

Repaired

My husband came home from work recently with a ripped seam in his jacket. It's not a great jacket but even so, I am embarrassed to admit that just a few years ago, I would have been temped to toss it out and go buy him a new one. 

Not these days. For one thing, our personal resources are much more scarce then they used to be. The value of the things we already own have increased substantially and so too has our commitment to maintaining them. For another thing, living more simply has opened our eyes to habits that are unnecessarily wasteful. And like my grandparents who grew up in the depression, I'm feeling that these changes are ones that will stick around long after our personal resources increase.

So rather than throwing the jacket out, I did what my Grandma Mary Jean would have done -- I fixed it. With a little thread, a sharp needle, and a well placed thimble, I had that seam repaired (and pretty well, if I may say so) in about 10 minutes. It was satisfying to do and I didn't have to spend time and money driving to the store for another jacket. A win-win situation.

I'm finding myself doing this with more and more things lately. Rather than automatically throwing something out when it becomes damaged or it's original need filled, I try and think of ways to fix it. Or to reuse it.

We now keep juice bottles for making ice blocks (thanks, Jamie!), sour cream and yogurt containers for storing leftovers, and reuse both sides of a spiral-bound notebook before recycling it. I've extended old jeans with patches, cut down retired blankets for pet beds, and have turned expired calendars into living room art. 

It takes a little creativity and yes, sometimes actual time, but I've found that the satisfaction you get in avoiding having to buy something new outweighs any minor inconvenience in repairing or reusing it. 

Do you ever repair or reuse things you own? What sorts of things have you done?

Veggie Pot Pie



Pot pie cooking




Pot pie cooling




Pot pie and steak (husband's)

It's funny but one of my favorite fall dishes is something I associate with my grandma but never remember her making. Her recipe for Turkey Pot Pie actually came from one of her good friends down the street but my sister and I somehow adopted it made it our own. We did so by replacing the turkey with potatoes and mushrooms (yeah, we're vegetarians) and adding sage or thyme to the dough and filling. The result is a hot and hearty, savory selection of vegetables cradled in a pillowy crust and blanketed in cheddar. The combination is hard to resist!

Veggie Pot Pie
Filling
1 large carrot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium red potato, chopped
1 c. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 t. sage (or thyme)
Crust
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1/2 t. sage (or thyme)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Filling: In a large skillet, sauté all vegetables except mushrooms until tender. Remove from heat. Add soup, mushrooms, and herbs. Mix well.

Crust: Mix egg, butter, and sour cream until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except cheese. Blend well. Spoon crust into pie plate and smooth dough up the sides. Add hot filling. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Top with cheese. Bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is light brown.

Believe it or not, we used to serve this with garlic-cheddar biscuits. (Mix up a batch of biscuits, add 1/4 c. grated cheddar and bake as usual. Directly out of the oven, brush biscuits with a mixture of 1/4 c. melted butter and 1/4 t. garlic powder. Serve hot. Yum!)

What are your favorite fall dishes? Where did they come from?

Endearments

Those who know me may say that I have a tendency to overdo on endearments. Folks young and old, male and female will often be addressed as "Hons;" favorite females as "Ladies;" favorite males as "Sirs;" and those closest to me are almost always "Sweeties." If I am guilty of overdoing it, I have no one to blame but my Grandma Mary Jean.

Her favorite endearment for her grandchildren was "Love." As in, "Come here once, Love." Or, "How's my Love?" (Sounds a bit British, doesn't it? But she wasn't. I'm not sure where she got the phrase. I haven't met anyone yet who can match it!)

What are your favorite endearments? Who do you like to bestow them on?