A Stitchin' Time

Motherhouse started the new year with A Stitchin' Time workshop in our second Saturday of each month Old Style Life Skills Series (OSLSS). Check out the other OSLSS workshops planned for 2009 on the Motherhouse web site! There are some old favorites: Honey Bee Mine, the Wool Gathering, Keeping a Family Cow, and Yes, We Can Can, as well as some new ones, such as Sourdough Starter Course, The Whey of Cheesemaking, and Appley Ever After.


At A Stitchin' Time each family worked together to make a handy apron. The first step was to select a pattern and the fabrics - one main fabric and if desired, a contrast fabric for pockets.


We learned how to read the patterns. As each pattern had several variations, we had to identify the pattern pieces needed for the particular apron we were making and separate them from the rest.


We referred to diagrams in the patterns to see how to lay out the individual pattern pieces on the fabric. Does this fit?


Some of the patterns were creased from being folded, so we ironed them! This really helped in having the pattern lay smoothly on the fabric for pinning, the next step...


We pinned the larger pieces first, then positioned the smaller ones, placing all pieces as close together as possible. Some pieces had to be placed along a fold. Some had a grain-line arrow that meant the pattern piece had to be positioned so that the arrow ran parallel to the selvage, or finished edge, of the fabric.




Now, we were able to cut, carefully along the line... It is a good idea to have a pair of quality sharp scissors and only use them for cutting fabric, cutting paper will dull the blades.


Before we were able to do any sewing, we had to thread the machine. There were a variety of sewing machines at the workshop - a few Singers, a White, and a Brother.




We're off.....and sewing! It takes concentration and a steady foot on the pedal!


For hemming, we turned the fabric over twice for a neat edge, this helps to avoid fraying also.



Here is an apron with the pockets sewn on. Snow began falling and I had to leave and didn't see any of the aprons completely finished! I'd love to see them! If you were at the workshop, send me a photo of your apron and I'll post it here!

Update:Here are a few photos Debra took at the end of the workshop. She says: We were all so excited that my hands must have been shaking!









Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is...

The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter or seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Remember:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

Author Unknown

A Stitchin' Time

Motherhouse started the new year with A Stitchin' Time workshop in our second Saturday of each month Old Style Life Skills Series (OSLSS). Check out the other OSLSS workshops planned for 2009 on the Motherhouse web site! There are some old favorites: Honey Bee Mine, the Wool Gathering, Keeping a Family Cow, and Yes, We Can Can, as well as some new ones, such as Sourdough Starter Course, The Whey of Cheesemaking, and Appley Ever After.


At A Stitchin' Time each family worked together to make a handy apron. The first step was to select a pattern and the fabrics - one main fabric and if desired, a contrast fabric for pockets.


We learned how to read the patterns. As each pattern had several variations, we had to identify the pattern pieces needed for the particular apron we were making and separate them from the rest.


We referred to diagrams in the patterns to see how to lay out the individual pattern pieces on the fabric. Does this fit?


Some of the patterns were creased from being folded, so we ironed them! This really helped in having the pattern lay smoothly on the fabric for pinning, the next step...


We pinned the larger pieces first, then positioned the smaller ones, placing all pieces as close together as possible. Some pieces had to be placed along a fold. Some had a grain-line arrow that meant the pattern piece had to be positioned so that the arrow ran parallel to the selvage, or finished edge, of the fabric.




Now, we were able to cut, carefully along the line... It is a good idea to have a pair of quality sharp scissors and only use them for cutting fabric, cutting paper will dull the blades.


Before we were able to do any sewing, we had to thread the machine. There were a variety of sewing machines at the workshop - a few Singers, a White, and a Brother.




We're off.....and sewing! It takes concentration and a steady foot on the pedal!


For hemming, we turned the fabric over twice for a neat edge, this helps to avoid fraying also.



Here is an apron with the pockets sewn on. Snow began falling and I had to leave and didn't see any of the aprons completely finished! I'd love to see them! If you were at the workshop, send me a photo of your apron and I'll post it here!

Update:Here are a few photos Debra took at the end of the workshop. She says: We were all so excited that my hands must have been shaking!









Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is...

The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter or seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Remember:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

Author Unknown

Serious Dough

We learned how to bake bread at Motherhouse's Old Style Life Skills Serious Dough Workshop on Saturday. It was a nourishing experience in many ways - Bread feeds us, unites us, and comforts us.


The first thing we did at the workshop was grind hard red wheat berries into flour. Each family needed enough whole wheat flour to make Basic Bread and Frankie's Irish Soda Bread. As you can see, it was a joint effort!


This Serious Dough workshop was the third bread baking workshop offered since Motherhouse began it's Old Style Life Skills Series in 2006. One of the attendees at the first workshop has been baking bread ever since! She returned to this workshop to demonstrate how she uses a Grain Mill Attachment on her Kitchen Aid.




With freshly ground flour in hand, each family paired up with another family. We warmed up some Local Farm milk and stirred in salt and honey. We mixed and worked in the flour. Our teacher and the founder of Motherhouse, Debra Tyler, told us our measurements didn't have to be exact. Every time we make bread it will be different, she said.


Debra had cubes of yeast as well as packages of dry yeast for the Basic Bread. Debra explained that yeast is a living organism and it would feed on the sugars in the flour and grow. As it grows, it gives off carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide from the yeast fills thousands of balloon-like bubbles in the dough and this is how yeasted bread rises. This is also what gives a loaf of bread it's airy texture, once baked.


Kneading the dough is one of the most fun and important steps in bread baking. To knead: Turn the dough out on a clean, floured work surface and flour your hands, as well. Using the heel of your hands, compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give the dough a little turn and repeat this. You will get into a rhythm with these motions. Keep folding over and compressing the dough until it becomes smooth and slightly shiny. The most common test for "doneness" is to press it with your finger. If it springs back, it's ready for rising. Debra said that kneaded bread dough has been likened to a baby's bottom.


Time is as essential an ingredient as flour is in making bread - time for the dough to rise naturally. While making bread is an all day process, it doesn't take all day, Debra said. It just requires being attentive to it. If Debra is not going to be at home, she takes the bread she has started with her in the car, so that she can punch it down after rising. Everyone at the workshop took their Basic Bread dough home to let it rise for the second time and then bake.


We also made a quick bread - Frankie's Irish Soda Bread. Quick breads are quick in two ways, Debra explained. They do not contain yeast, so you don't have to set the dough aside to rise. They are also quick in how you handle them - mix just enough to combine the flour and other ingredients. If you handle quick bread too much it will be tough.


The Tassajara Bread Book is what got Debra, and many others, started baking bread. It was first published in the late 1960's and written by Edward Espe Brown, then a young Zen student who lived and worked at a Zen retreat named Tassajara, in Monterey County, Calif. Everyone at the Serious Dough Workshop went home with a copy of the 25th Anniversary Edition.

In a 2003 New York Times Magazine article, Flour Power, about Edward Espe Brown and his book, he says: ''When I was growing up, nobody could show me how to bake bread -- and it's only gotten worse. It seems such a shame that as a culture we don't teach our children about the basic things in life -- bread making, gardening, sewing -- and the value of work. At some point, all these things got to be beneath our dignity. If you can't work with your hands, you lose the richness of your life and the sense of being productive.''

He continues: ''In my book, I wanted in a small way to share the fact that you could actually learn skills in your life that would help you become able to take care of yourself. It's so simple. It's such a clear vision. People have the capacity to cook and garden and farm, and we don't use it. It's very sad to me that it's come to this."


Find resources and more details on Motherhouse Market for: the beautiful mixing bowls which were lent to Motherhouse by Cornwall Bridge Pottery for the workshop; the hard red wheat berries from Al Earnhart's Lightening Tree Farm; Hand-Turned Grain Mills; Celtic Sea Salt; Local Farm Milk; the Tassajara Bread Book; and recipes for Basic Bread and Frankie's Irish Soda Bread.


Before the flour, the grain.
Before the grain, the mill.
Before the mill, the earth,
the sun, the beauty of God's will.

Mother Daughter Retreat

At the Mother Daughter Retreat last Saturday, we had a relaxing day of quiet activities for mothers and daughters to share. We put our hair in a do, made gifts in a jar, and ate lunch in a pocket!

Blood and Guts

For thousands of years, people have been coming together to slaughter animals, prepare the various meats, and eat a meal. Although not common now a days, this is exactly what happened in the November Old Style Life Skills Workshop - Blood and Guts. Chris Hopkins and Francisco Alves led this workshop with gratitude for how animals nourish us. The emphasis was on how to use all the parts of an animal. A full report, with recipes, will be published soon on the Local Farm web site.

What's In A Pickle?

It's just over a week since the OSLSS What's In a Pickle Workshop and I'm drinking the Beet Kvass we made that day. It is bubbly and tangy and I've grown to love it! I brought it home and let it sit on the counter to ferment. I shook it every day for a week before I began hearing it fizz. This, I learned at the workshop, meant that it was fermenting.


Jill Oneglia led the What's In a Pickle Workshop for Motherhouse and she explained what pickling is - a process of preserving food by fermentation in brine, to produce lactic acid. She referred to the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. In addition to many recipes, Nourishing Traditions contains information about how pickling not only preserves food, but unlike modern preservation methods, the process of lacto-fermentation makes nutrients in foods more available, and supplies the intestinal tract with health-promoting lactic acid and lactic-acid-producing bacteria.

Nourishing Traditions is based on research done by a dentist, Dr. Weston Price, who studied the health and eating habits of isolated traditional societies. He found that, almost universally, all these peoples allowed grains, milk products and often vegetables, fruits and meats to ferment or pickle before they were eaten.



At the workshop Jill had us get started coring, chopping, and shredding cabbage for sauerkraut. We started with 1 medium cabbage; because the cabbages were so big, we cut them in half. The cabbages and other vegetables were from Chubby Bunny Farm.


In a large bowl, we mixed the shredded cabbage with 1 Tblsp of caraway seeds, 1 Tblsp of sea salt, and 4 Tblsp of whey.


We used wooden pounders Debra Tyler made to release the juices from the cabbage. Then we packed wide mouth quart jars with the cabbage and pressed down firmly with the pounder until the juices came to the top of the cabbage. The top of cabbage should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. We covered the jars tightly and brought them home to keep at room temperature for about 3 days, Jill said better for 7 to 10 days, before storing in the refrigerator or cold storage. The Sauerkraut may be eaten immediately, but it improves with age.


At the workshop we also made Lactic Acid Fermented Butternut Squash with Lemons and Spice, Ginger Carrots, Fermented Red Cabbage, and the Beet Kvass that I already mentioned and am especially taken with. What is trully marvelous about pickling is neither refrigeration nor pasteurization is required; it is an ancient way (i.e. Old Style Life Skill) of preserving food that also improves health and makes delicious foods and drinks.


We enjoyed a pot-luck lunch together after all the chopping, shredding, and packing. At lunch time we sampled some jars of sauerkraut Jill had brought with her for us to try. She said she has two refrigerators at home, her husband bought her a second one for all of her experiments. Everything was delicious!

Jill gave us some tips for pickling: Use well or spring water, not chlorinated water, for all pickling; Date your jars; When you've drunk most of the Beet Kvass, you may fill up the jar with water and keep on the counter, at room temperature, for a few more days. This second batch will not be as strong as the first, but still good. After the second time, discard the beets and start again; Try to use fresh whey made from raw milk, if not available add another Tblsp of salt; Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon is a great resource to have.