Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

With all the extreme weather and calamities, I think we need to have storage going in our homes. I know we can't prepare for everything but what we are able to prepare is a very helpful thing for us or someone else. The weather is pretty much broken right now so we push on as our ancestors, doing the best we can.

So here is the peach tree blossoming. This would have been a great year for peaches, it is loaded, but tonight we have a freeze warning posted so probably no peaches again this year. Time will tell. This is one of the reasons having storage on hand is good, we just don't know what will happen.

http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/search/label/Dehydrated%20Apples%20Recipes - this is one of my most favorite sites. If you scroll down to the apple crisp recipe that is the one I use all the time and it is sooooo good. I have mostly apples I have dried in storage, I find this is my most favorite way to store them. The other things I store with apples is applesauce and apple butter but mostly I dry them.

Apple Butter (this is the best in all the world) 

Make one gallon of applesauce (or if it is a not good year for apples, you can buy a gallon of it at Fareway or your grocery store) to this add:

3 c. sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

4 c. apple juice

Mix all together in a roaster pan without the lid.

Bake at 350 for 3-4 hours till thick.

Process in a water bath for 15 minutes.

http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/2008/12/magic-mix.html - this is a good one to have on hand too.

http://myfoodstoragecookbook.com/create-your-own-book/ - here is one lady's way of setting up her food storage binders.

So keep working on having some items ahead. Weather is weird all around the world not just here. I saw that sugar will spike and go into shortage on the news because the weather damaged fields. Having extra on hand helps us to weather these things better.

I happened to find these charms marked way down on clearance so I made progress markers of them. A progress marker is if you want to see how far you knit or crochet in a sitting but mostly on crochet they act as stitch markers as well and on knitting...

When I am working on double-pointed needles (as in the picture here) stitch markers slide off but a progress marker can be attached between needles like in this picture, its purpose here is to mark the beginning of the row.

So it was a happy little find.

This week has been a very busy week. We took all the artwork my husband has made to a show he has been getting ready for two years. We got it delivered and installed. It was a lot of work.

The show is at Dog-Eared Books in Ames, Iowa.

I have been waiting these two years to reclaim my dining room so finally I have it back...

So a rest is in order for a couple weeks I hope.

Missy says make hay while the sun shines