Our 57th Thanksgiving filled with Nostalgia, Antiques and Heirlooms!

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A nostalgic look back on our many Thanksgivings together. 

Now, we are Thankful for Hubbies eye surgeries....it's amazing that a quick surgery and lots of drops, drives to the doctor and a month of recuperation can give you 20/20 sight after wearing glasses for over 70 years.

But, I can't help but think this will be our now 57th Thanksgiving...and how blessed we have enjoyed another Fall, our favorite season together.

Every season brings joy, trials, tribulations...and the season's move on.

There is calm and...

 laughter,

and how she has GROWN... 

We love FAMILY BAKING together!

and the bonds of old friends, 

and the beauty of nature flourishing in your own backyard.

We still enjoy the preservation and joys of simple things.

Sun filled Fall days and family gatherings to give Thanks.

Sunshine on the porch, a fuzzy throw to cuddle in the evening. 

Plants and flowers trying to survive the crazy temperatures. 

Inside, I bring out the rusts, golds, naturals in our blue and white kitchen.

Kitchen scents fill the air as the cinnamon and pumpkin meld in sweet perfection. Vegetables are harvested from the garden and roasted for future enjoyment.

Heirloom family recipes are baked and the results savored and saved for holiday gifts.

Soups and Chili fills crockpots and warm our inners on chilly nights.

Simple biscuits are perfection when rolled and baked with homemade pumpkin butter.

Who can resist apple pumpkin muffins?

Our favorite platters are washed in anticipation of company coming.

Silver...shall I polish or not?

Heirlooms, loved by you or someone else take their places still proud and beautifutl.

Dusk comes early and lamps are lit through the dusky afternoon.

Throws and cushions fill our couches, and are welcomed on chilly nights.

Teapots hold warmth and welcoming to guests.

Favorite cups brim with steaming hot teas and ciders.

Last blooms grace the tea table.

Precious linens are brought from storage for use.

Quilts are washed and aired for cold weather cuddling.

Dried gourds and Hydrangeas grace our tables.

Family heirlooms find their way to the buffet.

Christmas pig is busy fattening up for the holidays.

Giving thanks for the Earth's bounty and beauty. We have loads of mini corn for decorating this year! 

Simple bowls filled with Fall.

Woods are oiled and polished.

Nuts gathered by the Grand find their way here and there.

I put together florals with dried and faux. I love all of Fall's colors, muted or bright.

Once a gorgeous real pumpkin graced the buffet.

Maybe I will polish our heirloom brass this year and use on the table.

Thanksgiving is always the End of Fall in our home, and....

Christmas comes soon enough, and needs not to be rushed.

 ...the dead of Winter is just around the corner. 

Snow and the Holidays will be here soon enough, don't you think?

I will post at the following Link Parties, I hope you visit them.

Love Your Creativity

Really Crafty Link Party 

Thanks so much for visiting,

OldNewGreenRedo, an ad-free blog.  

I do not endorse or receive any $$ for any products I may use. I enjoy showing how I use products, 

but I do not receive any $$ from anywhere I shop.

However, the link to my BarberryLane Etsy shop is on the right hand side if you choose to visit for antiques, craft supplies, vintage, dolls, mini's, and more.

  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

oldnewgreenredo

Apple Pies, Apple Sauce and Family Working Together.

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After a long haul outside last Sunday dealing with leaves on our 1/3 of acre, the family day was a total work day. 

Then, we had community apples and made pies for the freezer. Hubby and I both come from families that did projects and cooking together. You are never too old or too young to help in the kitchen. 

        Many Hands make Small Work!

Our island is perfect for Family baking, cooking, or prepping!

oldnewgreenredo

The apple peeler got a work out and so did the Grand, now 13. She was a star at peeling on our OLD crank peeler.

(OUR peeler peels, cores and spiral slices the apples nice and thin.)

Don't tell our Grand I posted this. LOL!

oldnewgreenredo

Short on time, we cheated this year and used purchased pie crusts for nine inch pies and couple of deep dish, too.

oldnewgreenredo

Here the Grand pokes holes for her signature, double hearts, in the crust for air holes, 

We usually do a wheat pattern which was  

Grandma Fern's signature. 

 Each finished pie is sealed in a bag and quickly frozen. 

oldnewgreenredo

Here I am mixing Streusel for tops of a few pies. Hubby's and my favorite.

oldnewgreenredo

Top Crusts are great, but Streusel is a wonderful alternative. I use real Butter, Flour, Cinnamon, Sugar and Oatmeal in place of some of the flour. 

This makes a hearty Streusel, and it crisps up extra nice. 

Or, you can use nuts with the flour mixture for cakes, pumpkin pies, etc.

Frozen APPLE PIES

Recipe I've adapted  from an old Betty Crocker Pie and Pastry book 1970ish. 

9" Apple Pies.

Unbaked Pastry for top and bottom of pie, your choice.

5-6 cups of thinly sliced/peeled apples 

(we use Gala or McIntosh)

We cut these into  lemon water 1/3 cup to half large bowl of water, scoop the apples into drainer after a few minutes in the water.

 (this keeps the apples from discoloring)

Sift and mix: 

1/2 cup of sugar, 

1/4 cup of flour,

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 TBSP of Cinnamon

and a Dash of salt. 

Toss the apples in the mixed flour mixture until they are totally coated. Any additional mixture/juice in the bowl pour over  top your apples when in the pie shell.

Heap the apples high in the center and off the edge so you can seal the top crust.

Dot the top of the pie with 3 pats or more of butter/margarine.

(This will melt and soak through the pie...and helps thicken the delicious juices).

 After applying crust pierce generously across the surface for steam to escape, do your own designs.

 Add your top crust or Streusel.

Quickly bag and Freeze. 

Streusel for 9" Pies,  coffee Cakes, or Muffins.

1/2 Cup of flour (I've use unbleached, whole wheat or oat flour)

1/2 cup of uncooked oats, like  for oatmeal

1/2-2/3 cup of Butter or Margarine

1/2 cup of packed Brown Sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon or  1tsp Ginger and 1 tsp Cinnamon

dash of Salt

Combine by cutting the mixture with a pastry blender until lumpy

I end up with fingers in there smooshing the ingredients together until it is a perfect crumble. Gently heap on the apples and press the streusel mixture in.

Good for one heaped 9"- 10" pie.

Baking Frozen Apple pies. 

Place frozen pies on a cookie sheet. 

Start in hot oven at 400 degrees for 30 min.

Turn down oven to 350 and bake until done at least an 1 hour-1 1/2 hours, check when juice begins to bubble from all parts of the pie, then it's done.

You can cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil half way through to avoid over browning.

WE MADE 11 PIES! My son had to take most home for his freezer, ours is full.

NUMMY, we serve warm slices of Apple Pie with Ice cream or non-Dairy topping. 

oldnewgreenredo

We'll have fresh baked apple pies for Thanksgiving! 

PS- We also made 7 pint jars of Apple Sauce and 3 pints of Apple Juice canned from the waste of peelings and the  smaller apple cores. 

An OLD REDO

Another great way to save $$$  is

simply cook the apple peelings and cores in a large kettle with a bit of water to keep from burning--simmer until the apples begin breaking down. Stir often. When cool run the mush through an old crank juicer with fine mesh. I ran my apple mush through about 5 different times until the waste was quite dry.  All the seeds and core bits are pushed out for the compost pile. I strain the watery sauce to separate the excess juice and heat both the juice and sauce to a slow boil,

ladle into jars,  add the lemon juice, and also put those  jars in the canner to process.

Canning: add 2 tsp of lemon juice to each hot filled pint jar, add hot metal canning lids and process closed jars under boiling water for 20 minutes.  

You can use a canner or a large pot with a spacer/trivet inside the kettle, so the jars don't come in contact with the kettle on the bottom or sides.

Since I had 10 jars, I did use my big canning kettle.

Unsweetened Applesauce is healthy and a great use of waste, and the juice will be great to add to many things!

Don't forget to compost the rest for healthy soil.

Enjoy!

What sort of Family Cooking/Baking 

do you Do Together!?

Thank you for any and all comments. I will try and answer each and every one.

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Love Your Creativity

Handmade Monday

Really Crafty Link Party

Thanks so much for visiting,

OldNewGreenRedo  

which is an ad-free blog.  

I do not endorse or receive any $$ for any products I may use. I enjoy showing how I use products, 

but I do not receive any $$ from anywhere I shop.

The link to my BarberryLane Etsy shop is on the right hand side if you choose to visit for antiques, craft supplies, vintage, dolls, mini's, and more.

  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

oldnewgreenredo

 

Thankful for our Kitchen Late Fall Decor and 20/20!

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Yes, I don't do Christmas yet! I hang on to Fall as long as I can, 

my FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!

Not that I don't  think a bit about the coming holidays, but Thanksgiving is our favorite formal meal of the year, here. 

Our Family takes turns having Christmas, but we often do a casual New Years Day Smorgaasbord with everyone's favorite at our house. 

Meanwhile it's still FALL!

The kitchen island decor sort of fell together, much like my early Fall, but the pumpkins are in now from outside. I've already cooked three others for recipes.

The vintage covered bowl is Blue Ridge pottery. I pick their dishes up to sell, but this one hasn't left the kitchen since I found it. I really appreciate the fluid Hand-painting on Blue Ridge. I call it SUICIDE painting because if you fudge it up, the greens are impossible to scrub off the fired once clay, and the reds have to have more than one coat or be very thickly applied. 

The plants from the porch are settling in the South kitchen window. I brought  them in just in time, you can see the snow through the window. Snow didn't last very long but we have had UP-Down temps this last week, and several hard freezes. 

It's been a strange year! First frost date should have been October 15 or around there, but here it is the week of the 10th of November...like a month overdue!

The hutch is pretty much the same, except for the bottom shelf. I do love the dashes of blue with the oranges and neutrals. I haven't changed anything to drastically here.

The towel is a 1968 Calendar from my mom's kitchen. 

The Coffee Pot was from my pottery days, I made many a piece with this matte cream glaze dipped in the Albany Brown clay glaze. Albany clay came from the Albany, New York area. The mines pooped out during the 1980's and the materials impossible to get. I heard from my supplier early and I bought 50# of it...and when I sold all my equipment in 2005 and supplies the new owner was quite happy to have a few pounds that I had left. 

The small bulldog is iron and very detailed and old, the Dutch looking people were my grandmother's and sat on her window ledge in the kitchen.

I've added some dried flowers, next week I will put up my Turkey platter. 

After years of not using the TV  I had here, I put the stein set in for the moment. 

This set is very heavy and HULL, I will be selling it when I get photos done.

My Etsy shop has been super slow, much like most people. 

Think Vintage on ETSY....no tariffs!!!!

If you care to visit my Shop BarberryLane I'm running a sale starting November 24th...so check it out! link is in the side right of this post! 

I love the colors this stray gourd turned...this may have come from the plant that cross pollinated with my Gourzucchumpkin  from a few posts back. 

The covered buffet in the kitchen holds all my plants and a few odds and ends. 

An antique Thunder pot with deer on it, upper right is great for the Fall and winter season. With Christmas coming these plants will have to find a home elsewhere???

I'm super pleased my Rex Begonia has recovered...and is very happy here...which is where I will leave it.

My dried bouquet in a very old vintage pitcher that I will harvest seeds from this week, before I deep clean the kitchen for Thanksgiving. 

Jars of dried herbs, Mini corn that we grew and our garden produce reminding me of what we have to be thankful for.

This last month we have had nothing but Dr's appt. Hubby's Eye surgery had two false starts that had included  days of prep and cancelled operations. Now We are THANKFUL the first one was very successful and he has 20/20 now in that eye. Considering he has had to wear glasses his whole life,

This is AMAZING 20/20!

Tomorrow, we do the second eye, and with another two weeks of him not being able to do anything, yes, right through Thanksgiving. The kids came last Saturday and the front yard got raked for the third time, and some Christmas lights were put up way out front. But, we are definitely short of our normal decorating schedule for outside Christmas! UGH.

Hubby and I normally tag team on all the chores indoor and outdoor including: cooking, cleaning, shopping and yardwork.

 But, I'm bushed from doing everything and all the driving into another state 4 times! But, especially the yard work. So with the late Fall we are so far behind and it's definitely cramping my decorating and I haven't done any art for two weeks.

BUT,  I'm Thankful our kids helped, oh and we made something like 12 apple pies for the freezer last Saturday, too! I cheated and bought crusts and dough on sale...first time ever. Crossing my fingers they taste good.

 I'm Thankful for ALL my Readers,  too!

Thank you for any and all comments. I will try and answer each and every one.

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Tuesday Turn About

Vintage Charm

Love Your Creativity

Handmade Monday

Really Crafty Link Party

Thanks so much for visiting,

OldNewGreenRedo is an ad-free blog,  I do not endorse or receive any $$ for any products I may use. I enjoy showing how I used them, but I do not receive any $$ from anywhere I shop.

A link to my BarberryLane Etsy shop is on the right hand side if you choose to visit for antiques, craft supplies, vintage, dolls and mini's.

  

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

oldnewgreenredo