Make It From Scratch - Ode to Grandmothers Edition

Today, June 3rd, is both of my grandmothers' birthdays, so I am going to dedicate this edition of Make It From Scratch to them and grandmothers everywhere.

My dad's mother was your typical little German grandmother with her long white hair in a bun at the back of her head. She wore old-fashioned "house coats", baked her bread from scratch, and still spoke in German with her siblings. We called her Muchen Grandma, but I am not sure of the translation of that word from the German. She was the grandmother you went to for cooking instruction, to learn to make bread, to make grape juice, she canned all of our vegetables and kept them in the root cellar down off of her basement. So for all things relating to cooking and food, here are the entries:

ChristineMM presents Hot Chocolate Souffle Recipe posted at The Thinking Mother.

Amy Allen Clark presents Adventures in Breadmaking: Artisan Bread in 5 posted at Amy Allen Clark.

Stephanie presents Crockpot Mexican Lasagna posted at Stop the Ride!.

MamaBird presents Dem Bones: Beef Broth posted at Surely You Nest. Making beef broth is easier than it sounds...and the French Onion soup you'll be able to make is out of this world.

Teresa presents Platanos Maduros en Caldero posted at Changing Seasons.

Maria presents A new recipe-- MIFS posted at Life on Both Sides of the Pond.

Deborah presents The Easiest, Cheapest Dinner Ever posted at Pennies To Nickels.

Jimson Lee presents 111 Egg Recipies and Egg White Recipes posted at SpeedEndurance.com. A free cookbook of over 100 Egg Recipes! Just right click and save to your computer.

Linda presents Cooking : Coconut milk rice posted at Mes crazy expériences. She wants us to try to see rice differently.

Robbyn presents Trying Moroccan Part 2: Tagine of Moroccan Chicken posted at The Back Forty. This is her second Moroccan recipe experiment...yum!

Suzanne presents chocolate happiness cake posted at Adventures in Daily Living.

Kate presents Our Red House: Mix'n'Match Cooking: Honey Oat Bars posted at Our Red House.

Mother Hen presents I'm Feelin' th' Heat posted at Ship Full O' Pirates. She has some great recipes for when the temperatures are rising.

GP presents Travel Lean and Green posted at Innstyle Montana- Your Home on the Range. GP gives us some "green" tips, as well as a great scone recipe.

HowToMe says, "My Mom used to buy Vidalia onions in bulk. When one does that they have to be stored well and for a long time. This storage tip works for both onions and potatoes. Enjoy!" as she presents How to Store Onions posted at HowToMe.


My Muchen Grandma was also pretty "crafty". She taught me how to make German Paper Stars when I was very young, and I still make them today. Unfortunately, she died shortly after I was married and my children never got to meet her. But I am teaching my children to make German Paper Stars to carry on the tradition.

My mom's mother was the working woman. She had a great career with Mellon Bank and was in the department that created and launched the first Master Charge card (now known as MasterCard). She was very smart and had great business-sense. My grandparents lived in an apartment complex with many squirrels in the trees out front. So when we were little, we would say we were going to "Squirrel" Grandma's house when we were visiting them. She outlived my mom and became a very dear friend to my husband and me in her last years here on earth. She was an encourager and inspired so many women to great things. So here are a few posts to inspire your creative side:

Cindy says, "I have simply fallen in love with felting. Here is my latest bag which is a cute little felted handbag." She includes a free pattern to crochet this bag over at My Recycled Bags.

Grandmother Wren presents Little girls, dolls and doll clothes - make it from scratch with the Thursday thirteen posted at Grandmother Wren.

Lisa at Tissuepaper says, "I love turning what I have in my home into something fabulous. Here I show how to turn an old towel into a cute vintage-inspired Jiffy Beach Cover-Up. I include the pattern too. "

Melanie Rimmer presents Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn posted at Bean-Sprouts.

Patric Herber presents The Perfect Gift for Golfers - Golf Ball Carvings posted at Carved Golf Balls. He hand carves scenes on the inside of real golf balls!

Joanna presents The Story of a Daybed posted at keeping feet.

Julie presents Fun Family Crafts and Projects Made Easy with the Cricut posted at More4kids. There is a new product on the market that she has found to be extremely fun and productive when it comes to creating fun projects from scratch with kids.

Jane @ Kidzarama presents Bath Salts Recipe posted at Kidzarama. Wren loves adding nice~smelling, colorful stuff to the bathtub and having a soak. The problem is that she’s not that sparing with her sprinkling, and those sprinkles don’t come cheap.

A. Lee presents Why You Must Consider The Healing Powers of Colors When Choosing Color Schemes For Your Home posted at World Healing. Thanks to Home Improvement shows, home owners want their houses outfitted with just what they saw on television. However, perhaps before racing off to the paint shops, it may be best to take a look at color significance and their respective healing powers. An article for inspiration and insight into your world!

MBB presents Build Your Own Custom Capital One Lab Credit Card posted at Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog.

Both of my grandmas were great women and loved the Lord with all their hearts. I am so blessed to have such a great heritage on both sides of my family! Happy Birthday, Muchen Grandma and Squirrel Grandma! Here's a little poem I found that says it so nicely:

Grandmothers

What ever on earth, can a grandma be for?
She's older than dirt, with one foot out the door.
And what can she know about living today'
When nothing is done in her old fashioned way.
Oh sure, she's sweet, and you love her a lot.
But in terms of real life, what's an ol' grandma got?

Well listen, my sweetie, you might be surprised
To find that your grandma's a youngster disguised.
She still has her dreams, and her values intact,
She's just a bit wiser, yes dear, that's a fact.
Experience has put a few lines on her face.
And that's how she knows, what its like in your place.

I know this idea may seem baffling and new.
But honey, your grandmas "Been There, Done That", too.
So when your young life isn't going as planned.
Talk to your grandma ~she'll sure understand.
She's got lots of love and good counsel to give.
And she'll be on your side for as long as you live...

~Author Unknown~

Don't forget to submit your posts for next week's edition of Make It From Scratch which will be hosted over at Life on Both Sides of the Pond.