~Remnants of a Bygone Era~

 Hello dear friends~

I recognize there has been a pause here.

It has been wild and crazy as of late.

It is harvest season if you weren't aware :-)

Here that means kitchen work after work,

piles of produce staring at me from every direction,

hissing canners, humming dehydrators, and endless dishes.

I evidently went a little overboard this year planting

so now we have a bounty 

of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans.

Actually, I only planted 1 (that's singular) cucumber plant

and have received over 100 cucumbers, and it's still producing!

Needless to say by the time I sit in the evening,

I am whooped.

Last weekend, I had to go pick up something from my folks

who live about 1/2 hour away.

I decided to take a back road 

and ended up stopping at an estate sale.

I found treasures.

William & Cassie 

There were a few shelves of books 

which always draw me to flip through the pages.

Well, I found a few gems from the later part of the 1800's.

They have seen better days, but were family books.

It makes me sad that such things are sold out of the family 

to which they belonged for the past 100-150 years.

Cassie shown above was the grandmother

of the woman who's estate was being sold.

Here, let me share~

Some of the books belonged to this baby's younger brother

who was the father of the woman who passed.

Cassie's book from when she was 10 years old.

This book was from Cassie's father, the great grandfather of the woman who passed.  I can't believe her children didn't want it!

I love that this one has a coarsely handmade fabric cover.

Through the address and the correlating obituary,

I was able to find a short lineage of the family

which I have printed off and will keep with the books.

At least if they are sold off at my estate,

there will be some account of where they came from.

Also among the wares for sale

were these beautiful whites.

(I have not washed or pressed them yet 

as I want to take my time and be careful with them.)

It probably sounds silly to some of you,

but I love the tattered apron.

I imagine it began as the "good" apron

then got demoted with age but perhaps

had sentimental value since it was kept and handed down.

I don't mean for this to be a sorrowful post,

but if you have family mementos,

I would like to suggest that perhaps you go through them now

while you have options.

Talk with family members and find out who might be interested

in protecting the family heirlooms.

Also valuable would be to add a little hand written note

as to the memory of it and its origin.

I sure do appreciate the quality of olden items

and the stories of the hands that held them,

but I can't be a museum for them all.

This might seem a little odd for a blog,

but I would love to hear (read) if you have a special

family item and the memory that accompanies it.

I think those who ponder through this post

might also enjoy reading it.

~Blessings~

And if you are interested in my latest YouTube posts:

This is the Utilities: Easy to Extreme series.

Cut Electric Costs

Save on Water, Sewer, and Garbage

Save on Electronics & Services

Canning Chips

Yes, that says "Canning Chips."

Here, let me explain~

We don't eat very many chips, but

when we do, they are part of a meal rather than a snack item.

They are nice with taco soup or to have nachos on occasion.

There is a small local company that makes good corn chips that we like,

but there are only a few places to get them.

So when I'm able to make it to one of the stores that carries them,

I get a couple bags and can them.

Simply use wide mouth jars and put as many chips in as possible.

Then I use the vacuum attachment to the seal-a-meal to lid them.

You could also Hot-oven Can them which is what I did 

until I got the vacuum attachment.

One bag makes 4-5 quart jars depending upon how many you eat 

during the canning process. :-)

Then they can go in the pantry and are ready when you need them.

For the two of us, we use 1 quart jar at a time.

If you have a family, it would be more of course.

The longest I've ever stored them is about a year, and 

they were still fresh and tasty.

As is the case when canning any dry-good,

it's important that your jars and lids are clean and completely dry.

Just a note, many of the items in my pantry have rims on them.

When we moved, I put rims on most of the jars just as an extra precaution.

I didn't want lids to pop if the jar was jostled just right.

I have plenty of rims so am just removing them as I use the food.