Stuffed Dates

My mom used to make these for the holiday season and I never have, but the memory came to me and I had to bring up the past - again. She had to slice the dates and remove the pits as I used to watch the process. These dates were already pitted, (reamed out, leaving a tubular hole through the middle) but I still had to slice them to stuff with cream cheese. Then I rolled them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.  

The Pot

I knew my old pot was old, but 86 years old!! WOW.

Club aluminum pots can be found on e-Bay, but they are all newer and hammered aluminum, not plain. The knobs are different and the logo/mark is different. There are plenty of the old 1926 recipe books that go with the entire set on e-bay, but only one of the exact pots is in my home. 

Now that I see what the entire set looks like, I can see several other items that are familiar as I was growing up. My mom must have just brought the one here when the cabin was new. And, worst of all, I'm pretty sure I sent all of the others to Goodwill when I was preparing her house for sale when she was in the skilled nursing care facility. Darn! I never even gave it a thought that they would still be useful. I think they were my grandmother's first and she gave them to Mom. Now one is mine!

My pot is used to make cooked candy,  pecan pie fillings, Bar-B-Q sauce, and some soups. It is very special because things just do not burn and can simmer for hours. It's not a large pot but an extremely important one to me. 

Today I made the barbeque sauce... UM...  YUMMY... it has to age for a week or so, but then will go on baked chicken tenders, pulled beef and pork, and used as a dip for chunks of other meat treats. I "might" even share one or two of the little jars I have filled, with my daughter and a couple of friends. 

See my pot. Oh! and yes, I have the original lid with knob. 

These are my pot bottom marks

These Arms...

Once they were strong. They commanded the handlebar of many bicycles, the old fashioned kind without gears, to explore the countryside. They assisted in accomplishing chin-ups and pull-ups in school playgrounds and gymnasiums. They did hot pepper jump roping. They enabled access to a treehouse located very high in a beech tree. They carried two five gallon buckets of water many yards twice a day to horses for numerous years. They steered a tractor pulling a wagonload of hay bales through rough fields and then help upload them to the barn elevator. They pulled this body high up into trees with a pouch on its back to pick apples, and helped it down with the burdensome packload for weeks on end. They lifted and maneuvered long bulky planks of wood, often heavy oak or cherry, to a chopsaw station to be cut into specific lengths for seven years straight. They once held a sizable dog down for several hours while porcupine quills were extracted from its tongue and cheeks by a helper. They hoed, dug and raked an ample vegetable garden every year. They have carried tons of laundry to and from washers, driers, clotheslines, vehicles. They've moved furniture and emptied heavy kettles from stoves to sinks. They once embraced, pushed, opened and closed. 

Now they are soft, cushy, flaccid, floppy, shapeless and slack. Their tonelessness is a sight to behold. They do nothing but hang and flap. They have become unpowerful, unenthusiastic and lethargic. They are exhausted and OLD. Like me.

Cookie Crunch Time

I got in the mood today to bake some cookies. Lucky thing that I had all of the ingredients on hand because it is raining cats and dogs and a trip to town would only muck up the car - badly!

I use vintage bowls when mixing dough mostly because they are lightweight and easy to clean and store. 

My cookies are never fancy or beautiful but they ARE de-lic-ious! They aren't the kind to take to a bazaar or give as gifts or to trade for an assortment. They are not the kind to display for praise.

Pretty they aren't but they are pretty good. Just ask my husband.

I store them in a plastic container. Why? Well, I have a vintage McCoy ceramic teapot Kookie Kettle cookie jar with a cast iron look which gathers dust sitting on the fireplace mantle. This pot has been here ever since I can remember, is heavy, and the lid fits loosely. It would never do. It must have been a thoughtful and appropriate gift to my parents when the cabin was new. It fits in nicely with the "decor!"

A side benefit of baking in the winter is that the oven helps heat this old cabin! It's a built-in room fragrance dispenser.

Oh, by the way, the recipe is also vintage (as is the baker).

OLD Blog Same Name (Old Stuff)

I have tried to import and export to no avail. My intentions were to take the 5 stories I wrote previously on a different blog called "Old Stuff" and combine it with this one but wanted it to be placed in the order they were written. I gave up. This is the only way I can combine them. I have come to the conclusion that my browser was not up to it! - and neither was I. Well, I got what I wanted, but not the WAY I wanted it to show up. Guess I'll have to be satisfied.
So...Here is a link to the OLD - OLD STUFF Blog!

http://nookworm.blogspot.com/

Old and Used

OK, now this morning I felt like taking pictures of the dressers and chests and other old furniture in this old cabin. Don't get me wrong - I love OLD, and don't want different or new! Heavens! That would be very disturbing! 

 Small Bedroom Dresser with Attached Mirror

 Dining Area Chest

 Large Bedroom Chest With Attached Mirror

 Large Bedroom Dresser Used For Storage of Seldom Used Items

Living Room View from Dining Area

 

Dining and Kitchen Area Looking from Living Room