Bread!

Considering that it's the middle of July in West Texas, waking up today to lower 70 degree temperatures and cloudy, overcast skies, was quite a nice surprise, and it didn't take me long to decide I wanted to spend the cool morning baking bread!!

Don't get me wrong I love pinterest recipes, actually I have a whole board dedicated to bread, and I also use AllRecipes quite a bit, but there's just something about an old cookbook every once in a while. My husband tells me I need a cookbook intervention... I loooove old cookbooks! I've inherited quite a few, but also am always on the look out for them at estate sales. The more used, the better, because in my opinion, those are the ones with the best recipes.

So, this morning, when it came to looking for bread recipes, I didn't turn on the computer, but instead, sat down at the kitchen table with a stack of old books and a cup of coffee. It took a few minutes to narrow something down, but I stumbled across a couple recipes that fit my pantry and refrigerator ingredients today. 

Both recipes are from local books, and both books are over 40 years old. And I don't care who you are or what denomination of religion you practice, Methodist Women's Cookbook always have the best recipes in them!!!

Recipe #1: Grape Nut Bread (pictured right)

Recipe #2: High Protein Honey Wheat

The recipes both claim that you're supposed to wait till the loaves have completely cooled before slicing them... Maybe you'll have more self-control than I did!

As with all breads, you should turn both these recipes out on a cooling rack as soon as you pull them from the oven! Otherwise, the crusts will turn soggy.

My [now complete] wine corner

During our recent kitchen flooring upgrade (we began the process in March and it's still not finished, but I'm going to refrain from venting about that here), I purchased a 18 bottle, double zoned, wine cooler. I found it on clearance at Lowe's for less than 1/2 price, marked "unsalable" because of a damaged box. I brought it home and the cooler itself was flawless. 

The idea was to create a wine bar/corner in the awkward, empty 120 degree corner, but because our kitchen was in such disarray, I really just had to hold my breath that I remembered the correct dimensions for the hole between the china hutch and our bay windows, and cross my fingers that the cooler would fit when it came time to move it into its permanent home. 

Because of some... errr... complications with the flooring, we ended up owning the cooler for almost a month and using it out of the living room before we got to move back into the kitchen. By that time, I had convinced myself that it wouldn't fit in the planned space, and was beginning to worry about where else it could possibly live. Thank goodness, it fit! 

The next step then become finding a rack to hold glasses above it. The space is less than 20", so I had no doubt that I could easily find a rack for around $10-$20. Boy, was I surprised when the low end hangers were more than $40!! To top that off, we didn't like any of them. So I began looking for alternative options. I really wish I could take credit, but the one I came up with was one I stumbled across on Pinterest. An old rake. I decided to put "rake" on my estate sale finds list, and see what I could come up with. 

This is what I found:

It's an older style rake, with really deep, long teeth (which are perfect for our over sized glasses!). It's also wider than the rakes they make today, and hand forged. The best part? I paid a $1 !! 

My handy dandy daddy pulled the handle off of the head, and that's when we discovered that not only had it been hand made, but it also had an empty rivet hole that worked perfectly for screwing it to my wall! Woot!

Patriotic Rag Wreath

Well, hello out there blogging world! I'm glad you stopped by!


For a couple months now, I've been pondering creating a new "hobby" blog. Because I've already got an established Wives' Tales & Fairy Tales blog site, the decision's been quite ongoing... I mean, can I really keep up with two blogs? and for that matter, Do I want two blogs?!
When I posted this Independence Day rag wreath on Facebook, I had several people ask if I'd "pinned it" and my mind was made up for me! This will now be the home of all things "Erin's Hobbies". Whether it's cookies, crafts, gardens, or just life, this will be my new go-to!
So, let's get started!
Patriotic Rag Wreath:
Materials:

• 14" 4 ring metal wreath form. I found mine in the cemetery floral department of Micheal's (aisle 10!)
• 3 yards of fabric (I used 6 colors, 1/2 yard each) Cut into aprox. 1"x6" strips (If you've got a cutting mat & rolling cutter, I suggest you use it for this project! That could turn into a lot of cutting with just a pair of scissors!!)
• Ribbon (optional) for hanging.
• Patience! Lots and lots of patience! & even more DVR'ed television to catch up on!!

 Instructions:

• I cut all my fabric strips first. This took up almost the entirety of the first evening. I poured a glass of wine, turned on the tv, and sat down on the couch with my rotary cutter and cutting mat, and cut. and cut. and cut.
• Next, Start tying. I worked by sections from the inside out. 

• You definitely don't have to do all 4 rings, but I liked the really full look. 
• My OCD took over here. I laid my fabric out in two rows: solid, pattern, solid, pattern, solid pattern, and tied them in order. I don't know that this is really necessary, but I'm much happier knowing that there's basically an even number of each color.
• Keep tying. You'll get finished eventually!

When you're finished, simply turn it over and string the ribbon through one of the vertical support bars and tie a bow, or a knot, or just skip the ribbon all together and hook the wreath form itself to the door.