Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Author: Michelle Page 35 of 43

Not Your Average Chicken Dinner – Chicken Pont Alba

Last week, I posted the recipe and process for Bearnaise Sauce here. This recipe is why I made Bearnaise Sauce for the first time. Chicken Pont Alba is a rich dish with many layers of flavor.

Dinner is served.

In recognition of their service

A fair number of our relations have served in the military over the years. As we remember on Veteran’s Day, I thought we might take a quick look at some of them.

Bearnaise Sauce without a double boiler

Cooking sauces for dishes has always been treated as something of a challenge. I wondered how could I make Hollandaise or Bearnaise Sauce without a double boiler. Every recipe said to use one to cook the sauce. So, me being me, I decided to try it with what I had on hand.

Happy anniversary, Clarence and Doris!

Clarence Loree Hoel was born August 8, 1908 in Celina, Ohio to William Henry Hoel and Martha Ann Fisher. Doris Olive Harden was born January 18, 1926 in Blairsburg, Iowa to William John Harden and Addie Olive Nicholson.

Doris and Clarence, New London, Iowa, Late 1940’s.

The Mouli Salad Maker – kitchen gadgets from the past

There are any number of tools that let a cook slice and grate foods. I have a couple of hand graters and a food processor. But one of my favorite tools if I don’t have a lot of food to process is my Mouli. It “slices, chops, shreds, grates, and shaves ice” according to it’s manual.

Image shows a metal kitchen tool with 5 discs with various patterns of opening.
The Mouli Salad Maker with it’s five cutting discs.

It really is a Thing-a-Ma-Jig! Another beading tool.

In my last few posts, here, here, and here, I’ve been talking about beads and beading projects. Here’s a look at another tool that allows you to do interesting things with wire and beads.

Image shows a metal board with holes in it. Some of the holes have pegs of assorted sizes and wire is wrapped around the pegs.
The wire jig and some wire.

A quick project: Memory wire bracelet

Last week, I showed some of the tools I use while making jewelry in this post. One of my favorite quick projects are memory wire bracelets. Here is the process that I use.

The image shows several beaded bracelets on a tan background. The dominant colors in each bracelet are aqua blue, yellow, red and purple.
Most of these are single wrap, but you can do multiple wraps like the purple one.

Generations in family photos: a glimpse back in time

It’s neat to see pictures of family gatherings, but I really enjoy those with multiple generations in one picture. Browsing through the pictures, I found a couple of really good ones, including one with 4 generations!

Beading – Tools of the Trade

In this post, I talked about how I store my beads. I use them to make jewelry and to embellish quilts and other projects. My Eternity quilt, that I talked about is this post, uses beads as the major stars in the galaxy.

The image shows two hammers and several pairs of pliers and a small hand drill laid out on a felt mat.
The major tools, laid out on a bead mat: ball peen hammer and leather head hammer; a pin-drill and reamers; diagonal cutters, round-nose pliers, needle-nose pliers, metal flat-nose pliers and plastic flat-nose pliers.

A visit to an old fashioned country store – Durfee’s Dry Goods

Aaron Bradford Durfee was born on October 8, 1891. Bud was my (Michelle’s) great-grandfather. I never got to meet him, but I did get to spend time with my great-grandmother, Anna Hardy Durfee, in Sundance, Wyoming where they lived since 1944.

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