Turn the Page.....Tuesday

It's the first Tuesday of the month again. I get so excited thinking I have a little homework to be working on through the month and I picture the others diligently working away on their homework assignment too. Pages flipping, plots thickening....ooo, the juiciness of it all. More books waiting patiently for us to discover, and sadly, some worth leaving alone.

In my normal routine excitement (can excitement be routine?), I rushed home with my monthly book from our very sweet but very accommodating library. Like a wise student I began reading early in the month. After only a few chapters I quickly realized this book WASN'T going to do it for me. And you're probably wondering which book I'm talking about. (We could have a Don't Turn That Page.....Tuesday sometime but not today! And I'm not the "boss" of this class anyway.....though she is a lovely person. : )

Pressing on......I quickly drove myself back. This time I walked the isles trying to find something that would be newish and interesting to those of you out there who love to spend your time reading and would be willing to try a new book based on someone's (my!) recommendation.

I picked up several and decided on: I'm still working on history, just a very different time period. Go back with me to the Gold Rush days of 1880. It's difficult to imagine just what life would have been like though we have many books and movies to help us.

Mattie O'Keefe decides to run when her present life is too threatening and a male relationship is too dangerous. Her best option is to meet up with her brother in Deadwood, South Dakota. Bravely travelling alone, Mattie finds that even her anticipated life with Dillon, her brother, is not turning out as expected. Quickly left on her own due to an unexpected death, Mattie must now find a way to survive in this rough society or leave again into another unknown.

Pulled in by the lure of gold, Mattie decides that working her brother's claim might be a way to survive and thrive! Dillon's claim is prosperous and she begins to believe that enough gold might see her through to better days.

Swede, a female teamster who is hauling frieght to the Deadwood region, is moved to compassion as she understands the need to exist on will alone. She begins to help Mattie and comes to count on Mattie's help with her own family as she must continue her trips to bring in more supplies in the hopes of becoming one of Deadwood's new stores.

One by one Mattie is taken in by a few of the town's members and made to feel a part of a community. Tom English is a kind-hearted man who respects Mattie and wants to see her succeed. Aunt Lou, a godly woman, can always be found in the one town restaurant cooking up delicious dinners as well as thought-provoking advice. And Aron Gallagher is determined to preach God's word in spite of the ridicule he receives from the town's people. As much as Mattie wants to trust people, she finds it quite difficult in light of her troubled past. In all of this, the deadly relationship of the past hovers over Mattie and threatens her again. Deadwood isn't safe from "him" and it isn't safe from disease. Both plague the town and bring havoc from which to flee.

Stephanie Grace Whitson is a delightful author. My interest in her peaked when I found that she started to become interested in writing as she taught her home-schooled children how to write. This lady has a life filled with kids, grandkids, quilts (I LOVE quilting), books, a devoted husband (sorry to put him so near the end of the list as I'm sure he really doesn't rank there) and a love for the Lord. I can't leave out the fact that she is a public speaker....love that too! We could be sisters! Well, not exactly, she doesn't even know I exist......

Hope you'll consider reading some of her collection. She has several series to choose from and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I was tempted to write a non-fiction book myself this month about a very cold and wet spring that doesn't seem to want to warm up. But it would sound like I was complaining too much and truth is, I've been inspired to be a part of my first-ever quilt-a-long with the Old Red Barn Co. I'll be blogging about that delightful fun-filled adventure soon, so soon. And I can brag a bit as I'm using fabrics from my "already-here" collection instead of supporting the economy and buying something completely delicious. (sense my responsible side speaking?) Pictures of the fabrics (and sewing progress to come) are already showing up on my flickr account.

For more reviews, check out Some of a Kind and have a wonderful time this month turning your own page. Remember to keep your brain (and body) active. The best is yet to come!

The REAL way to make Fresh Homemade Tomato Sauce

(First written to help out my homeschool mom-friends)

Ya'll had me laughing today when I was so kindly reminded of breaking the rules! Mentioning a delicious recipe without giving it is and SHOULD BE against the rules. I just hate to hear about something wonderful and not be able to try it out myself so I completely understand.

So......

step-by-step

1. pick a lovely spot in your yard for your tomato plants.....you didn't think I'd start you off with the tomatoes already grown now, did you? We're homeschool moms here. Shouldn't we first talk about whether or not a tomato is a veggie or fruit? Did you know it was part of the "nightshade" family? Why, I've always wondered.....it loves the sun! Can I bring up heirloom tomato varieties? Does anyone here want to write the plural of tomato on the board for us? Any songs about tomatoes? "You say potato and I say patato, you say tomato and I say tamato...." And in this group we'll not forget to discuss the history of the tomato.....thought to be poisonous....or how it was often referred to as the "love apple." Please, would you in the back there mind writing up a short article on tomato planting and harvesting..complete with an "ly" word, a who/which clause, and an interesting adjective and adverb, double-spaced of course....

2. OK, now that you've got your location picked out and your history, spelling, sing-a-long, botanical, grammatical and writing assignments in order, let's move on to a few general helpful hints. Give your plants loads of sunlight. If you decide to try out SFG, you'll want 1 plant/sq. ft. (I love that abbreviation stuff....looks like I'm such a technical writer!) You'll be so tired from setting up the garden and planting that you'll need to go out to KFC using your GPS and if your husband is your main-man helper, he'll be needing some TLC. He'll be so happy you got the IRS and a possible audit out of his mind this time of year, the CIA and the FBI off his back, he'll want to get fancy with the garden but KISS. Trust me. And in case the kids are running through the garden too much, send them in the house to make some PB&J or BLT sandwiches.

3. After the tomato plants are growing and you're ready to harvest, pick your juicy fruits (or veggies...whatever you decided to call them). Bring them into the house and take a picture of them before they meet their maker, that's you and God. Get a pot of water boiling, stab the tomato with a fork and put it into the water for about 30 seconds. When you lift it out, the skin will peel off easily. In another big pot, simmer some onions, bell peppers, garlic, basil and oregano (fresh if you put that in your garden - I do!), a wee bit of salt and a tad of sugar in a splash of virgin olive oil.

4. After you've peeled your toms, quarter them and put them in the pot of spices and veggies. Now just let them cook and soak up all that flavor you just created. Stir and watch them melt away into goodness that will eventually go into your delectable dishes. You can strain them to remove the seeds if you didn't do so before cooking them or just let them be themselves and stay in the sauce. I say, let's just all get-along. Stay in the sauce and be happy.

5. Now you can put them in freezer bags and store them flat (saves space) or you can can them according to directions you'll find on www.freshpreserving.com.

I use these in all types of cooking: chili, spaghetti, soups, etc. Don't be surprised when you see that they aren't as dark as the sauces you buy in the grocery. You may also be impressed when you consider how many tomato plants the pioneer and homesteading families must have had to grow to feed their family year-round. Math! How many tomatoes does it take to make one large pot of spaghetti sauce? How many tomatoes do you need if one train leaves Houston at 4pm going 50 mph and another train leaves Memphis at 2:30pm going 45mph and everyone on the train wants tomatoes on their salad? No, the trains never meet. Why? Because I always trembled in fear when I knew those trains were going to meet and possibly crash! All those innocent people!....just for the sake of one math problem??? Not in my story!

Well, this has been fun. Hope you're more interested now in SFG, eating tomatoes, making homemade sauce, lining your pantry with pretty canning jars, writing essays about tomatoes and eating salads on trains.

Any questions? Oh, the measurements.....You know your family and their preferences. Just make it up as you go along, sing while you cook, stir and laugh, offer your husband a taste from a gigantic spoon, speak Italian with a twinkle in your eye.

Want to know how much a splash is? Well, Darlin', it all depends on how big you are when you hit the water.

Time to run.

SWAK,
Jan