broadening our horizons

Our culture doesn't look upon a woman staying at home as "broadening her horizons." But G.K. Chesterton does:

Women were not kept at home in order to keep them narrow; on the contrary, they were kept at home in order to keep them broad.

He explains that a homemaker is not expected to excel at every thing she sets her hand to, but to give each her all.

Carolyn Mahaney adds:

...let’s embrace the “larger plan” ordained by our Creator. Let’s not worry about being the best, but eagerly give our all to the broad calling of serving in the home.

Read the entire excerpt from "The Emancipation of Domesticity" over at the GirlTalk blog. Thanks to Josh Harris for the link.

The Domestic Monastery

I have a husband who is sick and a little girl who sounds sniffly.  I was hoping to go to the church ladies salad luncheon today, to help welcome our new pastor's wife.  Instead I'll be working at the family business (since my sister-in-law is sick, too) while my hubby rests and babysits our little girl. 

Ironic that I read this article while quietly folding laundry as my baby sleeps?  I don't think so.  Probably just God's way of telling me this is my season of life, this is where my heart and work are to be focused: this rarely quiet, but always peaceful domestic monastery of our home. 

 

The lesson was rather that there was something wonderfully right about what his mother had been doing all these years as she lived the interrupted life amidst the noise and incessant demands of small children. He had been in a monastery, but so had she... 

The domestic can be the monastic.

-Ron Rolheiser, at lifeissues.net

My Cook Book Shelf

"Food prepared with a light heart and in a happy frame of mind is often the best food. Preparing the special foods that are favorites of those you love...making just a little effort to garnish the salad with a sprig of parsley, a bit of grated cheese, or a wild strawberry from the nearby meadow. This says 'you cared enough to do the little extra things.' This makes cooking pleasant and satisfying."

-"Meal Planning," Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, 1956

My cook book shelf is filled to the overflowing. A yellow plastic shelf that began its useful life in my mother's college dorm room, it then became my toy shelf, and now more than 20 years later holds a place of honor in my kitchen as the home of my cookbooks. There are glossy magazines from MaryJane's Farm and Taste of Home, antique hardbacks, three-ring binders, spiral-bound collections of friends and church family, and a stack of copied recipe pages that should be organized into that Mary Engelbreit notebook sometime when I'm not cooking. There's an authentic Mexican cook book and a Chinese cooking school cook book right next to Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and a menu for Afternoon Tea.

But if I was stranded in a kitchen with only one cook book, I would want the expertise of Betty Crocker or Fannie Merritt Farmer at my fingertips.

Everyone knows that Betty Crocker is the ever-young, ever-fashionable, most versatile cook in the U.S.A. I, however, prefer the vintage 1950's Betty Crocker, who had just discovered the value of photographs in cook books. Not only does Betty Crocker teach the beginning cook how to do everything from scramble an egg to making a meringue (complete with pictures), as well as set a table and plan a menu, she has so many versatile recipes that even the pro will always be turning back to her pages.

The antique versions of this famous cookbook are best, because back then they knew how to cook from scratch--not from cans and boxes. (See "Recipe for a Good Cook Book.") And what I love about the older versions of Betty Crocker (in addition to the wonderful way it is organized!) are all the key recipes--they tell you how to make a basic recipe, then give you several variations. And once you master the key recipe, of course, you can experiment to your heart's content. At the moment, I have only two copies: a spiral-bound Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book (first edition, third printing, copyright 1961), and my favorite, a hardbound copy of Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book (second edition, second printing, copyright 1956). But being a collector of antiques as well as cook books, I pick up a Betty Crocker whenever I find a good deal, and sometimes I even let one go as a gift to someone I know will appreciate it as much as I did.

I'll admit the reason I first picked up Fannie Merritt Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook was because Merritt is the name of the man whose heart I wanted to win (and we all know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach). But when I finally got my own copy it became an invaluable tool in my kitchen. I like to compare Betty Crocker's recipes to Fannie Merritt Farmer's, often ending up with a combination of the two. I'm guessing Fannie Merritt Farmer was the more gourmet of the two back in their day, but either is gourmet compared to today's home-cooking standards. Fannie Merritt Farmer was apparently the first to bring "level measurements" into popularity--her original cookbook was published in 1896 (mine is the tenth edition, revised by her niece, from 1959). You won't find photographs in her cook books, but the black and white facts of every culinary art will be a great asset to your cooking.

As you can see, though I have two especial favorites, there are more cookbooks on my shelf...

Back in 1995 my grandparents gave me a Reader's Digest cookbook called Like Grandma Used to Make. Often as I flip through it, I find the little sheets of menu plans my cousin Melissa and I made up for one of our fancy dinners for the family (which usually turned out to be semi-disasters, with Gretchen making the messes and Melissa following her around with a dish rag). This book is filled with delicious, down-home recipes you'll always have the ingredients for. It may not have every recipe you'll ever want to make, but it has a lot you'll want to try. Whenever I'm lacking creativity, I turn to the pages of Like Grandma Used to Make.

If you're a working mom or have little time and lots of freezer space, Once a Month Cooking by Wilson and Lagerborg is for you. I used this method for my family when I still lived at my parents', cooking 30+ meals in one day, and filling the freezer with a variety of menu items that lasted over a month. Now that I'm just cooking for two, I've modified the method--I cook lots each meal, and freeze the leftovers for hurried days when I don't have time to cook. For more, read my blog post "Dinner's in the Freezer."

Make-a-Mix Cookery (by Eliason, Harward, and Westover) is an amazing book I've only skimmed the surface of. My mom always made the best pie crusts--straight from this book. The best part was, she made enough dough for 10 pie crusts at a time. Then, when we were ready for a blackberry pie (with berries fresh from the field!), she would take the dough out of the freezer, thaw it, and roll it out. And that's just the beginning of the mixes you'll find in the pages of this book!

It took me one look to fall in love with The Farmer's Wife Cook Book. My grandma gave it to me my first birthday after becoming a farmer's wife. The redhead waving to the man on the John Deere tractor looked just like us... One of these days, I would love to find an original copy of that issue of The Farmer's Wife: a magazine for farm women (published from 1893 to 1939). Meanwhile, I enjoy the recipes from the magazine, compiled into a new cookbook by Martha Engstrom. With old advertisements and photos, and original articles from The Farmer's Wife (such as "Use Butter Generously" and "Why Not Hominy?"), it's a trip into the history of the farm kitchen. My farmer and I especially enjoyed the article on "Choosing a Refrigerator", from a 1930 issue of the magazine. It stated that there were really only two or three months out of the year when a refrigerator was necessary, and at least 5 cubic feet of storage space would be a good idea for a family of 4 or 5 (these newlyweds started out with 14.3 cubic feet of refrigerator space, 12 months out of the year!). If you can't find a vintage Betty Crocker that will fit your budget, The Farmer's Wife Cook Book will at least give you a flavor of good old-fashioned cooking methods (you might discover some new favorites--like baked custard or rice pudding). (And if you see a copy of the magazine with that tractor cover picture, I want it!)

Church Suppers, coupled with a casserole dish and insulated carrier, was one of the most creative and practical wedding gifts we received. A huge notebook of recipes for church potluck and home alike (by Barbara Greenman). The best thing about it is the selection from across the country--from down-home Southern cooking to a variety of New York cheesecakes.

Better Homes and Garden's Vegetable Recipes and Fodale Press' The Green Thumb Cook Book are thrift store finds with recipes organized alphabetically by vegetable--great for fresh ideas for that veggie that's practically coming out of your ears!

For this winter squash fanatic, Reader's Digest's Pumpkins and Squashes by Caroline Boisset was a delightful discovery. There just aren't enough recipes using squash--but this is a book full of them, as well as pictures and descriptions of all varieties of summer and winter squash.

Williams-Sonoma's Best of the Kitchen Library is a bit more on the gourmet side, but any of the cookbooks in this collection are enough to inspire you to new heights. And then there's Gourmet magazine. It's a very inexpensive subscription (especially for us because we borrow my sister-in-law's!), and the magazine is full of mouth-watering recipes. Or, look for Gourmet's "best of..." recipe book collections on sale. Your cooking will wow your friends. And even if you don't have all the ingredients each recipe calls for, you can usually figure out a substitute.

Lorenz Books has an amazing line of cook books, too. I only own the Potato book, but it's true to its name: "the definitive guide to potatoes and potato cooking." The recipes are gourmet and down-home at the same time. I'm sure I'll have to pick up another at a garage sale one of these days.

And then there's the next cook book I'll buy... Every cook knows she can never have enough cook books. There's always one more, with yet more recipes to stir your creativity. Like the library's copy of Ed Wood's Classic Sourdoughs that is making me want to find its twin for my own.

But enough about cook books. I need to get cooking! I'm making curried carrot soup from Church Suppers to go with the "Lowell Inn Crescent Rolls" from Betty Crocker. And my man will be home for dinner in just a few hours...

"The momentous question of 'What shall we eat,' which comes to the housekeeper three times every day and which must be met with a well-supplied table--whether everything else in the house goes undone--becomes monotonous and wearying. We hail suggestions as a ship-wrecked mariner does the distant sail."

-"Table Talk," The Farmer's Wife, May 1912

Ratatouille and other farm-style delicacies

It's one of those cozy, rainy autumn afternoons meant for curling up by the fire with a good book. Everyone must have felt it, for it was a slow day at the store, and Merritt and I did just that--sat by the store's wood stove with our books. I convinced him to try a George MacDonald, The Fisherman's Lady, and I had a fun read in Who Gets the Drumstick? by Helen Beardsley.

Then I got to come home, feed the chickens (who love the mud and the rain), laugh at the kitties (who try to delicately shake the mud from their feet each step they take), light all the candles, and make dinner for my husband who will soon be home from work. (Meanwhile, I'm keeping one eye on the fields in case a buck should present himself as steak for our winter's dinners.)

Tonight I'm trying Bortsch (beet and cabbage soup) for the very first time, as well as making my mother-in-law's standby sausage and potatoes (a simple white sauce and sausage gravy over mashed potatoes) in case Merritt doesn't like the Bortsch.

As the end of a second season on the farm draws to a close, I'm realizing how much living off the bounty of the garden has taught me about cooking. I thought I cooked from scratch before. I may have grown up with a few Costco or Schwans prepared dinners in the freezer to fall back on in emergencies, but I knew how to grind wheat, bake bread of all kinds, and make lasagne (sauce and all). Now I'm making salsa with tomatoes, peppers, and onions I planted, and cilantro from my pot outside the door. Not only is the beef in the enchiladas from our cows (I grew up on our own beef and venison), but my husband farmed the alfalfa hay that fattened those cows up. And the vanilla and honey baked custard is made with eggs from our own chickens and ducks.

But more importantly, I'm learning to cook according to what's in season. This spring it started out with cream of spinach soup and broccoli casseroles with green salad. (And this pregnant lady's favorite keep-away-the-nausea snack eaten at least twice daily, of a tortilla smeared with cream cheese, layered with spinach and salsa, and rolled to perfection.)

As soon as the first little summer squash showed itself, we had squash and zucchini with every meal (sauteed in a cast iron skillet with just a dab of butter, salt and pepper). My favorite summer lunch was an "open-face sandwich", with some of my sister-in-law's homemade bread, toasted, buttered, and topped with bacon, onion, tomato, and cheese, then broiled just until the cheese browned--I could get fat on those!

The week the peppers and tomatoes came into profusion, our favorite Mexican meals began showing up frequently in the menu. My latest experiment was winter squash enchiladas, with a sauce of pureed winter squash, garlic, and jalapeno instead of the traditional tomato sauce. (While I didn't grow up with it, I have become a fan of winter squash in every way, shape, and form!)

But the one farm-style delicacy I didn't get to try this year was Ratatouille. My mouth has been watering ever since we saw the movie by the same name at the drive-in. I came home and dug through all my cookbooks, very proud to find that my non-gourmet cookbook library had several versions of the recipe. And upon reading the ingredients, I found out why the movie characters were so scandalized at serving such a "peasant dish" to the gourmet food critic: the primary ingredients of Ratatouille are zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant! There were never any eggplant to spare this summer, but I've convinced Mom and Dad to plant a few eggplants again next year just so we can make Ratatouille.

Maybe you can always find eggplant and zucchini at the grocery store. But there's nothing so gourmet as food straight from the garden. And nobody eats better than those who live off the land, eating what's in season, and preserving the abundance for winter.

(written autumn of 2007)

Sourdough, Laundry, and Tea

The sun just dropped below the tops of the hills. It's time to start a fire again. But we had our windows open for a bit this afternoon, enjoying the fresh 50-degree air and tantalizing hints of spring (despite the snow and ice clinging relentlessly to the ground).

Part of our laundry is drying on the old-fashioned rack in front of me. The rest is in the dryer, awaiting folding. We don't have room in our house to air-dry all our clothes in the winter, but I hang out what I can. I can't wait for the days when the breeze has enough warmth that I can hang our clothes on the line again.

I just set out the sourdough starter to try my hand at Aunt Dixie's Sourdough English Muffins in the morning. This winter I finally got some sourdough starter from my mother-in-law, and so far my husband has enjoyed the results. We've made sourdough waffles, and two different kinds of sourdough bread (the one without any added yeast or soda took forever to rise!), but I'm looking for more recipes using sourdough starter. Any suggestions? My starter is made with white flour, but I just read in Mary Jane's Cookbook that you should always use whole wheat flour for your starter--maybe I'll start adding whole wheat flour to it instead. And I cheat and stash it in the refrigerator to get it out of the way, but I'm looking for a small old crock or the perfect Pyrex bowl so I can keep it out all the time and remember to use it more often.

A neighbor lady invited Ruth and me to tea today. The ornate tea cups and maple pecan muffins made me miss Lanier and Natalie, and all the other members of our tea parties in Kansas City. And I came home to the sad realization that I don't own any tea cups--just mugs! I may be a farm girl, but even a farm kitchen needs tea cups. I think I'll have to start collecting the floral patterned FireKing cups and saucers I've been eyeing so long. They would be a nice complement to my Pyrex and FireKing bowl collection. And a must-have for those promised visits from Natalie and Lanier...

Everyday Cheapskate full of useful tips

I feel like I should apologize for not writing about my appreciation of the Everyday Cheapskate sooner. These daily emails from Debt-Proof Living are nearly always worth reading, whether providing great links, unusual tips, or just inspiration to live a life below your means. I've spent my share of time searching the web for practical, worthwhile practices for saving money and Debt-Proof Living's resources are some of the best. So many of the articles or blog posts I see are really nothing more than basic common sense...and there is nothing wrong with that but so much of it can end up being a waste of time and not really anything that practically saves more than a few pennies.

This article gives links to all sorts of discount websites. A few of them I was familiar with previously but there were a couple that excited me. If you are like me and always want to find the best deal on an item (it is not uncommon to save 50-90% by purchasing something online versus a regular store), you will want to bookmark a lot of these websites.

The Bricks of Civilization

Something about this piece from Pilgrim's Inn captured my imagination. Each day as I tidy up in my little house, each night as I cook dinner, set the table, and light the candles, I am creating the bricks that form our happy home, the little corner of this world over which I have dominion. If I were to worry over much about the evils and dangers of world outside these four walls, I would be less able to perpetuate the cheerful, peacefulness of our home. Building the walls and fighting the tide of evil is my husband's job. I'll just keep handing him the bricks of good food, a quiet home, and lots of love...

"...it was homemaking that mattered. Every home was a brick in the great wall of decent living that men erected over and over again as a bulwark against the perpetual flooding in of evil.
But women made the bricks, and the durableness of each civilization depending upon their quality, and it was no good weakening oneself for the brick-making by thinking too much about the flood."

-Elizabeth Goudge in Pilgrim's Inn, pg. 48

Dinner's in the freezer!

“Mom, what’s for dinner?”

We hear this question often. Except in our house, it’s not Mom who is queried, but me, the 19-year-old family chef. If I don’t already have something thawing, I turn to the freezer for a variety of menu selections. When a trip to town takes longer than expected, or 5 o’clock comes and I haven’t thought about supper, I can simply choose a dish from the freezer, pop it in the microwave on defrost, then stick it in the oven. Here is how I keep the larder well stocked.

Four years ago, at the age of fifteen, I tried once-a-month cooking for the first time, and attempted it on a larger scale a year later. Using Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg’s book Once-A-Month-Cooking as a guide, I designed my own menu plan of entrees to prepare. I made a long shopping list based on the recipes, but when my brother had to ride his bicycle to the store for canned corn, I learned to always buy a little more for good measure.

It’s best to have the kitchen to yourself when cooking on such a large scale. So, when my parents left on a trip, I rose early to say goodbye and placed a broiler pan of chicken in the oven. Knowing I’d be on my feet all day, I donned my Birkenstocks for comfort and chose a dark brown apron. I proceeded to brown thirty-six pounds of beef, dice thirty-nine cups of chicken, and chop many more cups of celery, chives, green peppers, and ham. Meanwhile, my fourteen-year-old brother cut up ten onions. I knew it was important to have help, but William was already thinking twice about this venture.

Cans picturing diced tomatoes brought a splash of color to the line of cream of mushroom soup on the counter, surrounded by bowls filled with chopped onions and chicken. I stood in the middle of the kitchen, surveying the food around me. “It’s too late now,” I shrugged, and plunged into the task before me. The recipes I planned to make were marked with Post-its; I went through the book systematically, preparing two—and sometimes three—meals from each recipe.

Long ago I learned the importance of having a recipe as a guideline. My cousin Melissa and I were attempting to bake a cake for Aunt Terri’s birthday. We doubled the Betty Crocker cake mix but decided that half the water looked sufficient. Mom happened into the kitchen and convinced us to fix our potentially disastrous error. I even greased the pan the second time around! From this infamous occasion, I learned to follow the recipe when it is new. But after I’ve made it once, I experiment to my heart’s content. As my brother quipped, “Gretchen’s meals are really good, but they’re different every time.”

On once-a-month cooking day, I followed the recipe book closely, to avoid forgetting important ingredients in my haste. When the sweet and sour chicken had bubbled to the appropriate thickness, it was dumped into a Ziploc freezer bag. Meanwhile, with the spaghetti about to boil over, I plopped the pasta into an 8-inch pie pan for spaghetti pie, and turned to stir the lasagna sauce. The lasagna noodles were sticking together, but I managed to layer them in a 13x9 pan, and cover it with foil. When all the ingredients were cooled, each bag and dish was carefully stacked into our freezer, a piece of masking tape labeling the date and respective recipe page number.

One by one, I removed the Post-its from the pages. When the day was done, I had completed thirty-five meals. The next morning I finished a few recipes for a total of forty-one family-sized portions. Any more, and we would have needed a second freezer!

As I stashed each dish on the frost-covered shelves, I made a dated list to post on the refrigerator as our “menu” for the month. It is essential to cross off the entrees as you eat them. Sometimes I cook in bulk for my grandmother and we’ll discover a dish in the freezer months later, lacking much of its original flavor—and appearance.

My cousin Melissa says, “When Gretchie comes to visit, she takes over the kitchen, and I run behind with a dishcloth.” I don’t see why I should take time to clean up when I’m going to make the same mess again in two minutes. Thus, when my cooking day was done, a mountain of dirty bowls and utensils had sprouted on the counter. My feet were tired from a long day in the kitchen, but my brother was kind enough to help. The mound eventually diminished, becoming another pile of dishes to be dried!

My parents came home to a freezer full of food; we didn’t have to cook dinner for over a month. But as time went by, I learned that an easier way of keeping the freezer full is to “cook for an army” and freeze the leftovers. For example, when I make enchiladas, I put one pan in the oven for dinner, and the other four go into the freezer for another night. And each time I cook spaghetti, I fill our eight-quart pot to nearly overflowing. I’m met with cheers of delight when I pull the leftovers from the freezer two weeks later—my sister Jessica loves spaghetti.

Whether you attempt the frenzied method of once-a-month cooking in a day, or the timesaving routine of quintupling all your recipes, I encourage you to adapt these techniques to suit your family’s eating habits. When the question, “What’s for dinner?” greets you at the door, it makes a world of difference if you can cheerfully reply, “Dinner’s in the freezer!”

written November 2002 for College Writing I

P.S. Check out my favorite cookbook, by Mary Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson:
Once-A-Month Cooking: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Everyday

I Want a John Doe on a John Deere

written in 2003

“I want a John Doe on a John Deere.” So goes a Country tune sung by Lonestar. And it could be my life song right now, as it sums up what I've been learning about myself lately.

The last ten months have brought me a lot of new opportunities and experiences, most of which I've enjoyed tremendously. I've taken writing classes at college, and realized that writing is truly what I love to do best. I've volunteered in an office, and found that I can be hired as a secretary when I want a job. I've spent time at our state capitol, and realized that you can spend your life climbing the political ladder. I've been working long hours, pleasing those at school and work. But I'm not spending much time at home with my family, or getting much done on my priority list.

It hit me the other day that I'm glad I'm having these experiences now, before I'm married. For almost the first time, I've realized that I'm really glad that I'm not engaged yet, and that I have this time to pursue my interests and explore options. It sounds crazy, but it's true—I've just finally realized that this is truly the time of my life to be learning what I want and love to do. I would never have had some of these opportunities if I were married already, and I might have always wondered what it would have been like. But instead I'm finding out what it's like to work, to be in politics, to get a formal education. And I'm realizing that, simple country girl that I am, all I really want is to raise a family with a John Doe on a John Deere.

While I do enjoy helping at my office, I wouldn't want to be working those hours if I had a husband at home. It has been interesting being involved in the political scene, but I wouldn't want to be married to it. And I have learned some interesting things in my college classes, but I wouldn't want to be attending college full time: I'm learning that a true education will never be shown by a diploma.

My family has many ideas and dreams for me, and I've had a few myself. I've envisioned the paycheck I'd make as an executive secretary. I've pictured myself as a famous author and speaker, with a prestigious husband. I've even thought of being married to a congressman—or at least, a refined, mannerly gentleman.

But in these last few weeks especially, I've realized that I don't want to be stuck in an office all day, or live a high profile life. I don't care about marrying a well-educated, polished man or having a speaking career. And I certainly have no ambitions for or interest in pursuing politics.

I want to have time to write to my heart's content, sitting on the front porch of a little cabin nestled amongst rolling hills. I want to be a patriotic citizen doing my part in my hometown. I want to spend my days cooking and raising a family. I want to spend my evenings cuddled up next to my husband. I want a John Doe on a John Deere.

Thank You Notes

In our family, it's a required tradition to write thank you notes. After every birthday or holiday, we get out a 4x6 card and make our list of people to thank (preferrably before we put away the gifts, so we actually remember). That includes the great aunts who sent a card, much to our distress in younger years: "Mom, what do I say besides 'thank you for the card'?"

But despite the sometimes laborious nature of the task, we know the thank yous are always appreciated. In fact, my grandmother has been known to send a "thank you for the thank you note."

It's a habit I want to pass on to my children, of always making sure to let people know their thoughtfulness was appreciated, their gift used. (Back when Mom previewed our notes before they were sent, we were informed that we were not to list the dollar amount someone gave us, but instead tell them what we planned to use it for. Usually, that was buying another book or two.)

I have but one Christmas thank you note left on the list today. I've saved the easiest for last--I'll have such fun telling my man thank you for all the sweet things in the flat rate priority mail Christmas package I received!

Then I have three more notes to write. Two "thinking of you" cards (one being a belated birthday wish), and a sympathy card (the kind you never want to have to write).

Who do you need to write a note to today?

written January 2006

Welcome Sweet Springtime!

As many of you may have observed, yesterday was the first day of Spring. We greeted it here in Georgia with wild winds and dreary rain. Not very promising of what lies ahead. But, of course, we know it's coming. We've had foretastes of such heavenly weather that when I step outside in the afternoons I have to laugh softly to myself--Ah, yes, this is why we have such terrible traffic in Atlanta! I can't blame everyone for wanting to live here! ;)

The old residential streets in town are frothy with cherry blossoms--it's so beautiful, I wish you all could see it!--and the lawns bear sprinklings of violets. The bare trees are growing hazy with soft greens. And in my own little garden familiar friends are peeking through last autumn's mulch. I greet them all with elation, checking their progress each morning with a loving impatience. Before long the delicate cranesbill with be unfurling its spicy little flowers, and the forget-me-nots that I ordered as seeds from Tasha Tudor's own garden will be winking up out of nests of furry leaves. I look forward to my foxgloves with as much anticipation as a much-awaited visit; I'm dreaming already of summer evenings heady with gardenias. And in the blink of an eye my old-fashioned phlox will be tossing their blossomy heads.

I love my garden because I feel close to God's heart when I'm nurturing His growing things. With my hands in His cool, rich earth, His limitless blue sky over my head and His birds singing in the trees all around me my spirit turns naturally to praise. In my own small way I'm partnering with Him in the act of creation--which is what creativity is in its most basic sense.

As Edith Schaeffer said in her marvelous book The Hidden Art of Homemaking:

There is something exciting in watering the bare ground, wondering whether the hidden seeds are doing anything at all, wondering whether they will burst out of the little shell and become roots going down and stem and leaves coming up. The day the first tips of green are seen, if they are your seeds, planted by your own fingers, there is a thrill that is surely similar to producing an art work, a thrill of accomplishment mixed with the reality of what is, what exists, what the universe consists of.

And so...

'In green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.'
Swinburne

- by Lanier

Washing Dishes

There's something very satisfying about washing a counter full of dishes.

There's something freeing about filling a garbage can with papers you decided you didn't need.

There's a great sense of completion after patching up a pair of dilapadated work pants so they have a few more years of work left in them.

And there will be a great sigh of relief when I finish helping my mother with her inventory today.

Meanwhile, go read my big little brother's great post on work over at his blog.

The Love Language of Cooking

My brother is home from college. It's fun to have someone to cook for who doesn't care about calories and fat.

So I'm making oatmeal bread, flat apple pie, winter squash, and garlic mashed potatoes to go with the steak we're having for dinner tonight.

"Cooking is a language, pure and simple. It says, 'I love you.' And, eating with ardor and gusto says to the cook, 'I love you back.'"
-Jan Karon

"It's th' unblessed food that make you fat!"
-Puny Bradshaw Guthrie

"I don't even butter my bread. I consider it cooking."
-Katherine Cebrian

"Oddly, it is not real cooks who insist that the finest ingredients are necessary to produce a delicious something... Real cooks take stale bread and aging onions and make you happy."
-Susan Wiegand, Cooking as Courtship

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
-Harriet Van Horne

Love and Kitchens

I spent the entirety of yesterday in the kitchen. It was fun...it has been a long time since I've been able to do much cooking/baking. I missed it at Christmas, being so sick--I could only sit in the corner and watch, sadness! But yesterday I realized how much I loved it once again.

However, time in the kitchen gives me too much time to think...too much time to miss my man.

Making all the things I know he'd love, but knowing he's not going to be here to eat them...

Watching Daddy come in and kiss Mom and claim she's distracting him...makes me miss being Merritt's distraction throughout the day...

Drinking Cinnamon Hazelnut Coffee and eating a bagel with cream cheese...makes me wish he was next to me to share a bite with...

But I get to see him in just 13 days, Lord willing.

That will be wonderful...

But in the meantime, I take every moment I can get to write snatches of a letter to him.

One sits in my mailbox now, with the flag up. And I'm hopeful that my letter to him will be replaced with one from him when the mail lady comes!

Home Sweet Home

The more I work, the more I want to stay at home. Though I do enjoy my job, I am thankful it is only part-time, and temporary at that. I look forward to the summer, when I will be free to be at home, living and loving.

Sallie Borrink's recent blog entries on staying at home have been a breath of fresh air in this two-income society. Thank you, Sallie, for the inspiring reminder of the many reasons I plan to be a stay-at-home mom, a work-at-home-alongside-my-husband wife.

An empty inbox!

It's almost a miracle. My inbox is empty!

At work, I keep my desk perfectly neat, and the inbox as empty as possible. But I come home to the day's mail and receipts stacked on my desk, letters that need answered collecting desk, and my desk organizer overflowing with every frequent flyer program card that I own. Not to mention that my personal email inbox, as of this morning, had nearly 1,000 messages in it!

But I got inspired reading this article on Boundless.org. I decided to follow the suggestions about my email inbox, so I created six subfolders for my inbox: Action (stuff to do), Comments (web journal comments to reply to), Pending (stuff I can delete eventually), Respond (stuff that will take a bit to reply to), Website (stuff to add to the YLCF website), Blog (stuff to write about here). I went through my inbox systematically, deleting the emails that had simply become "archived" in my inbox, filed other saveables away under "Friends" or "Politics", and put the proper items in my inbox subfolders.

And behold, my inbox was empty. And maybe that beautiful sight will inspire me to keep it that way!

Now when I have time I'll go through those inbox subfolders and deal with their contents. But at least I don't have to worry any more about urgent emails getting lost in my humongous inbox!

Ah, the beauty of organization... It feels so nice to have that little corner of my life completely organized. Now on to the next thing: this messy desk!

On Setting Goals, Part Two

Continued from a post a few weeks ago...

With prayer and your parent's support, write out your long-term plans and goals, always recognizing of course that they are subject to change based on God's leading (I am revising a plan I made just three months ago, but fine-tuning our goals is part of the fun!). Write those out, then expand on them into specific tasks and steps. Then expand those steps into measureable weekly or monthly goals so you can track your progress.

For instance, I have goals under various categories such as Work, Finances, Ministry, Education, Family, Marriage Preparation, and Personal. Some of my personal topics are Reading, Devotions, Exercise, and Language. When I expanded Language into a workable plan, I specified that I wanted to become as proficient as possible in a language so that I can raise my children bilingual. I had to set my language study aside during college but now as I plan my goals I have written out to implement them, I have set down to begin my language study again in May when I graduate, and start out by studying at least three times a week for at least a half hour. In the fall I will reevaluate and see if I have time to increase my study.

Your plans don't have to be long or complicated--my goals cover 4 single spaced pages in a nice outline format. For me, this helps me organize my thoughts so my mind is not in a muddle, and is a way I can strive to use each day to its fullest, redeeming all the time God has given to me.

Enjoy your own goal-setting and most of all, working hard to reach the goals—all to the glory of our Father.

On Setting Goals, Part One

As I prepare to graduate this May, I've been thinking more and more about goals. Lofty ones and little ones. Important ones and silly ones. And I am realizing anew that one cannot reach one's goals by accident. There will never appear in my schedule open blocks of time begging to be filled--despite my hoping for such. Instead, if we want to reach a goal we must work out a practical, measureable plan and carve out time each day to work towards it, by the grace of God.

Nothing especially profound, you say? No, but it is also not something we apply that often, is it? What do you want to get done? Read certain books? Learn a skill or hobby? Finish a big writing project or school assignment? What about the long-term goals? What do you need to be working toward in the next 1-3 years? Let me recommend a helpful exercise.

To be continued....

The Titus 2 Woman revamped?

I have always been a fan of Mrs. Jennie Chancey's writing, and when I ran across her article addressing the issue of mothers working outside the home, I immediately knew it had to be shared. There is a supplementary article here taking one view, and Mrs. Chancey's article is definitely worth reading. Sadly, those of us in the Christian sub-sub-sub culture ;-) of conservative, homeschooling, stay-at-home moms can sometimes forget how few of us there really are, and how others need to hear why we believe as we do.

I really appreciate that Mrs. Chancey shows the rare courtesy and wisdom of writing not only to married women with children in the home, but to all women. Her arguments are solid, her theology is precise and complete, and her words are encouragement!

Happiness = Home

Gene Stratton-Porter’s book Michael O’Halloran is not only an enchanting and beautiful tale, but it is filled with practical, down-to-earth advice on the family and home. I found the same views I’ve read in other old books about not always feeding children store-bought sweets, but teaching them to appreciate mother’s homemade goodies. I read in wonder about a father realizing that he was to blame for his son wanting to go off and experience the “fun life” in the city—“Peter” realized he’d always taken his son to the movies, to go spend time in town, but never fishing or swimming around home. When it dawned on him that he’d taught his son discontent with his home life, he began to turn the way their family lived upside-down. And I wished that every American family today would follow his example!

Then there’s the woman’s place…and for me, I firmly believe that it’s in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant! :) Why have we gotten so far away from how God designed the family? Why are we looking outside our home and family for recognition and fulfillment? Where is the steadfast devotion and ready service to the “men in our life” that earns us their constant love, care, and help with the dishes?

More Quotations from the Book Michael O’Halloran by Gene Stratton-Porter

“If I’d trained you from your cradle to love your home, as I’ve trained you to love Multiopolis, you never would have left us.”

“This neighborhood does all in its power, from the day their children are born, to teach them that home is only a stopping-place, to eat, and sleep, and work, and be sick in; and that every desirable thing in life is to be found somewhere else…”

"And exactly in what do you feel your happiness consists, Leslie?" he asked.

"You and Douglas! My home and my men and what they imply!" she answered instantly. "As I figure it, it's homes that count, Daddy.

"What each woman wants is her man, her cave, and her baby."

"Of course, where my men are, like Ruth, 'there will be I also'..."

"Men respect a masculine, well-balanced, argumentative woman, but every time they love and marry the impulsive, changeable, companionable one."

"You ain't no suffragette lady, are you? ...As long as everything you say swings the circle and rounds up with Peter, it's no job to guess what's most important in your think-tank. Peter must be some pumpkins!"

"Strange how women folks get discouraged on their job, among their best friends, who would do anything in the world for them, 'cept just to see that a little bit of change would help them."

"It's men's work to eat, and I don't know who made a law that it was any more 'woman's work' to cook for men than it is their own. If there is a law of that kind, I bet a liberty-bird the men made it. I haven't have my show at law-making yet, but when I get it, there are some things I can see right now that I'm going to fix..."