What's For Dinner?

This is a frequent sight in our kitchen: a grocery list is being populated with needed items based on recipes from the meals planned for the coming week. How do you tackle this task? My approach to the job has become something of a ritual. My recipes are stored in expanding folders labeled accordingly: main dishes, breakfast foods, breads and coffee cakes, vegetables, salads, etc. What appears to be a mess here is actually quite orderly (at least to my thinking). I know what I am looking for while hunting for my tried and true lasagna recipe: it's hand jotted on the end flap of the lasagna noodles box. Who else would know this? I'm guessing no one. But, that's the way I have saved all my favorites. Some are penned by my mother, my grandmother, my daughter, my mother-in-law; these are the treasured recipes, the ones I return to over and over. I know which one is on what sheet of paper by size, color and design. These are not the only recipes I possess, not by a long shot!

Nearly thirteen years ago Mr. Goodneedle built me this cookbook cabinet for my birthday. I desperately needed a way to organize an ever-growing cookbook library. It was designed for this space; I wanted it to be tucked away, in plain sight, in this corner of our kitchen. You can see how many cookbooks it holds; on the top shelf of the bottom section, behind the doors, is my box of "organized" file folders. Do I use all of the other numerous cookbooks in my collection? Occasionally, yes. Do I have other recipes in virtual folders on my computer? Of course I do; I use online sources for new recipes that I want to try and am constantly spurred on with additional ideas by sites like Pinterest too. And yet, where do I always return, week after week? Yep, you know it, those files crammed chock-full of handwritten recipes proven by generations to be exactly the meal that I had in mind; there is great comfort contained there. So, what's for dinner at your house?

Life is Good! 

Charms Of A Different Variety

I've been sharing charms lately, fabric charms; today I'm sharing charms of a different variety: have a look at these treasured silver charms. My sweet mother-in-law has been going through her jewelry and giving pieces away. Our daughter had expressed an interest in this charm bracelet of her grandmother's; she remembered wearing it many years ago when she would stay after Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house to play dress-up. Grandma would let her wear some of her special jewelry and she'd dress up in layers of Grandma's tops and scarves, she was, maybe three or four years old. Marcia remembered that Grandma told her: "someday, when you're grown up, that bracelet will be yours".  Grandma remembered that too, she gave it us a few weeks ago to deliver to our daughter in the Capital City. The story behind the bracelet is that my mother in law wore it when she was in high school; in the late 1930's to 1940. The heart charms were all gifts from friends and family, most of them are engraved with names or initials. Look carefully at the puffed heart in the center of the close-up, "Daddy" is engraved there. I never knew my husband's grandfather, but this touched my heart. There is also a charm from "Mother" as well as one from my father-in-law when he was but a teen too, so many memories... so much love.

I polished it up as best as I could before giving it to our daughter. Some of the enamel-faced hearts were already worn, I believe that only adds to the value. I know that our daughter will cherish this gift, as she does the precious relationship with her grandmother. The best part of the transfer of ownership of this bracelet is this: Grandma knows that the love goes on... from one generation to the next, to the next... this pretty bracelet full of hearts is only a symbol; someday our daughter can pass it down too, the bracelet is now a family heirloom. 

My heart is smiling.

Life is Good!

The Thread That Binds

Why do you make quilts? Do you want to create something that will last longer than you do, something that says "I was here, I took the time to stitch these pieces together because that is what mattered to me"? We can only hope that what we leave behind will be appreciated and loved, we can only hope that it will matter to someone else. And so, we document our work. We tell the stories of our quilts to our children and our grandchildren, we want to live on through our quilts. Fannye Hall does. This photograph means a great deal to me for what it represents. Fannye is gone now, but her quilts live on. Nane bought this top that Fannye pieced at an auction, learned to appliqué as a means of securing it to a suitable border for stability, and I quilted it. We are now tied together, the three of us, the thread that binds us is a strong one. Here is the past, the present and the future all wrapped up in one glorious quilted creation that matters! Cooking and cleaning are all too quickly undone, I hope to leave tangible memories that will endure; this is why I make quilts.

Life is Good!