Economic Times

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the small men by tearing down the big men.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.

You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves"

attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Pic: Small town America. Hot Springs, NC.

I'm Still Here

I'm still around, barely. I've been battling bronchitis for a few weeks now. I think I'm almost over it. My daughter is here for a couple of months before she starts her summer job. We went out of town for a few days at Easter. We have been having some repairs done to our house and I've been trying to finish some projects around here.

I haven't completely abandoned blogs. I try to check on the regulars as often as possible.

Here is a link to a wonderful post from Crafty Crow. She has links to some wonderful recycling projects that would keep the kids busy for hours. Hmmm....and maybe the adults too!

Pic: Navarre Beach Easter 2009, It was rainy and windy. I loved it.

What I Saw: Spring Blossoms

What I Found Surfing: One Semester Spanish Love Song

We are in the middle of a Spanish course at our house. It has been a struggle. I found this video that just cracked me up and thought I would share it.

What I Found Surfing: Online Pedometer

Keep track of your miles as you walk across your state, or across America; and keep track of how many calories you burn

Picture: The road home on a foggy evening.

Recipes: Camp Stew and Country Eggplant Casserole

I've been very scarce around here lately. I think I needed a break from blogging. But I'm back for now and I thought I would share a couple of recipes. They are simple to prepare and some of our favorites; just plain and simple down-home cooking.

Randy and I had lunch with his mother many years ago and she served this dish. We both loved it and she was gracious enough to share the recipe with me. Delicious.

Eggplant: Country Supper Style

1 medium or large eggplant, pared and cubed

butter or oil

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Bread crumbs

Grated Cheese

Saute eggplant in butter (preferred) or oil for around 5 minutes or until it begins to look transparent.

Pour the eggplant into a buttered 9X13 casserole dish.

Saute onion in 2 tablespoons butter until it begins to turn yellow, add can diced tomatoes, parsley, sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Sir and let come to a boil Pour over eggplant. Top with crumbs, dot with butter, and sprinkle cheese over all.

Bake 350 for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Good served with a salad in the summer or with rolls or cornbread in the winter but either way, you need a gallon or so of Sweet Tea. Hmmmm...good.

Another favorite is Camp Stew. It is a dish that I believe originated in the south.

When I was growing up some of the churches in our area would sell Camp Stew as a fund raiser.

Brunswick Stew is a name I have heard used interchangeably but there are some differences. I think the main difference may be the addition of butter beans (Baby Limas) in some cases barbecue sauce is used instead of catsup.

The original recipes that I have found included such meats as rabbit, squirrel or even bear. Even though the recipe calls for beef and chicken.

I have substituted ground pork,turkey and even vegetarian meat substitutes. All have been well received. It is also just as good with only one type of meat instead of two.

We eat this several times a month during the winter. It is best served with a pan of hot cornbread.

Crock Pot Camp Stew

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. boiled or baked chicken, chopped.

1 medium chopped onion

2 cans cream style corn. ( I often just substitute a bag of frozen corn)

2 cans tomatoes, diced

1 can Baby Lima beans, optional

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup catsup

1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional

Brown and drain ground meat. Put everything in crock pot.

Stir and cook : High for 3 hours or Low for 6 hours

Use It Up.....And Make Something New

I love the unique. I love something recycled to be useful. I love originality. I absolutely love this dress made out of the selvedges of fabric!

Jodie at Ric Rac makes the most awesome things out of the selvedges of fabric. She has a whole array of projects she has made. Wonderful inspiration for thinking outside the box when we attempt any project.

If you are looking for a new project, or just some inspiration to get started, Ellen at The Long Thread has put up a wonderful list of the top 100 tutorials of 2008 to help inspire you in 2009.

Photo property of Jodi at Ric Rac.

What I Saw: Monday Morning

Woke up to this. Wind blowing. Snow flying. Mr. Weatherman, I want a refund on that forecast.

Sunday Musings: Life Outside Our Own

I have nothing profound to say these days. Most days are filled with the mundane minutia that makes up our lives. Sometimes I feel sorry for myself and let myself start to think "poor me".

When I get that way, and if I'm lucky enough, someone will say something, or I will read something, that makes me hang my head realize how totally embarrassed I should be for being so ungrateful for the life I have. How very lucky I am to get up everyday and have things that I need to do, things that I do with very little effort on my part and no real discomfort.

Through Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer I got lucky. , She shared the story of Alicia at Posy Gets Cozy and the story of a horrific accident that she endured and the lessons she learned while she recovered:

"I had a vision about the world when I was there. It came to me one night as if a little door opened and I looked through and eavesdropped on the truth. I saw that the world was constantly falling apart, it was always in a state of little things always falling apart, and then there were these brigades of individual human angels, with kind eyes, apples and stitches, repairing, fixing, mending, patting, bandaging the wounds of the world, and putting it back together, piece by tiny piece."

The rest of her account can be read here.

What I Saw: How To Cross A Creek

We have been in North Carolina on a business trip. Near Hot Springs I saw this cabin and an ingenious way that they have created to cross the creek to their house. They park near where I took this picture and board this little cart to cross over to where their house is located.

It was extremely cold yesterday and this morning. The wind was the problem. It was blowing incredibly hard and since we were around 4000 elevation it was much colder than the valley we live in. I was not quite prepared for how cold it would be. We went up to Blowing Rock attraction for just a few minutes this morning and after only about 10 minutes I felt like the ends of my fingers were frozen!

This is a picture of a mill near Banner Elk, just over the state line, in a little place called Trade.

I know these pictures are nothing compared to what others in the country have been dealing with this winter so far. I hate when we get ice in Tennessee. We don't get much and no one seems ready when we do.

Living On What You Make

I read this post at fatwallet.com that I thought I would share. How often do we think that making more money would be the answer to all our financial problems?

But if you can't manage your money when you make $40,000 a year, you won't be able to at $400,000 a year. The principles are the same.

This is my favorite part of the post: "Luxuries get sampled and become necessities. And while the pleasures you get from the finer things in life are nice, the pain that you experience if you ever have to give them up becomes huge. It wasn't any one thing, it was a train of connected "upgrades" to our lifestyle. And if you let the upgrade train get away from you, you all of the sudden realize that you're struggling to pay for the ticket."

How true is that? Here is the beginning of the post and there is a link to the rest at the end. Enjoy.

"I didn't always make a lot of money. Nor did I come from a wealthy family. Nope, I started on the bottom rung, worked hard, waited patiently, and finally one day, I woke up, and all of the sudden realized I was finally making some decenet money. Not big shot, second-home, his-and-her-7-series driving money, but better than most of the population, and certainly better than any of my friends or family. Combine that with being married to a fellow college grad with her own professional job, and between the two of us, we pull in around $200k per year. And we're living paycheck to paycheck. Although this is an alternate name I created to hide the personal details from my usual login, I've been a regular FWF contributor for as long as I can remember. I've posted quite a bit here (I'm not one of the "biggies", but I have a good number of posts to my name, all with their fair share of green). I know all the conventional wisdom. I follow the Boglehead philosophy, know about how to allocate money, know all about the wonders of compound interest, and have read all the books. Tobias' Only Financial Guide You'll Ever Need? Check. Random Walk, check. Millionare Next Door, Your Money or Your Life, and even (sigh) Rich Dad Poor Dad, check check and check. How I got to where I am was both sobering and humbling, and I figured I'd tell the story just in case it might help anyone else. No sob story about medical expenses, divorce, or some scam business opportunity. Nope, my wife and I just let ourselves spend too much. No one to blame but us..."

The rest of this post and responses can be read here.

Elf Slipper Tutorial

Check out this great tutorial at Maya Made for really cute Elf slippers. She does a great job explaining every step and the results are just too cute.

Pictures property of Maya Made