Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Katie Wright!!!

Katie Wright (Sister #5600) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Intermediate Level Knitting Merit Badge!

“I designed a purse (made up the pattern); chose the yarn; worked the pieces, making front and back, bottom, and side pieces, which included knitting the strap, measuring and planning as I went. I made a buttonhole in one side piece. The purse measures 9″ x 10 1/2″ and has a long strap for using as a cross-body purse.

I worked at this at my knitting group, which meets on Tuesday afternoons and also evenings in Hannibal, Missouri. I shared the pattern with a family member.

Working on this item took me over 20 hours with the knitting, piecing together, sewing a lining, and placing the lining in the purse.

My cross-body, deep-green knitted purse is very attractive. I knit in seed stitch, which just makes it a little more decorative. I made the bottom, sides, and strap in garter stitch to add some variety to the purse. I lined it with a pretty soft grey with white polka dots, which I had left from making a message bag last year. I used a buttonhole stitch around the buttonhole and into the fabric lining and then sewed on a nice, shiny red button … my favorite color. It turned out great and I have used it and received many compliments already. I am sure I will use it for many years to come. I also plan to make a few in the future as gifts for family and friends.”

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Katie Wright!!!

Katie Wright (#5600) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Knitting Merit Badge!

“Because I have knitted for many years, actually 54 (since being 12 years old), I decided to give patterns to others for charity knitting and help them with the projects if they needed help. There are many charities that you can use your knitting, quilting, and crocheting skills for.

My family worked on hats at different times, on a loom for knitting. It is an old wooden loom that I had made by an elderly man in my hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin, probably 45 years ago. It works like a larger form of the spoon and nails … or like the plastic looms that hobby places now sell. I also had one person make hats for the hospital for the newborns. It is a fun way to teach someone to knit in the round on three or four needles, which will prepare them for knitting socks later. It is a simple project and can be finished in a few hours. I usually make a bag full (30-50) before taking them to the hospital. I also helped a friend start a scarf, casting on and such as she just simply had not knit for years and had forgot it all.

Teaching others to knit and hopefully enjoy the craft makes me so pleased. I like to share my passion for knitting, and it is a passion, as I have knitted for 54 years now. Wow, to think of all the projects and yarns I have used!

My friend continues knitting her scarf. Another friend had me help her untangle her yarn and scarf and start again. Hats are piling up with great joy and it is a wonderful way to use ends of balls and skeins of yarn, which an avid knitter has in plenty. My granddaughter is still practicing casting on and is “the master of casting,” but not knitting yet. My daughter-in-love has learned to knit and made a scarf, then a baby hat for a friend, and now some doll clothing. My hope is that they will all enjoy and knit for many years. However, my daughter-in-love says she likes to crochet better. My grandson learned to knit and made some potholders and a dishcloth while I taught him and others in a 4H volunteer program.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/BakeOver MakeOver Expert Level Merit Badge, I was fine-tuning my BakeOver skillz.

To earn this badge, I needed to come up with my own recipes, using BakeOver mixes, for one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and one dessert. (Only one dessert? Crikey!) Turns out, I’ve gotten pretty good at these 20-minute delicacies.

Combine that fact with watching a lot of the Food Network, and you’ve got yourself some delish new recipes to try. Yum!

P.S. Let’s face it, farmgirls. I enjoy a crunchy salad as much as the next yoga-lovin’, skinny-latte-sipping gal, but once in a while, I need to lay off the rabbit food and channel my inner cavegirl. Meat and potatoes? Hearty comfort food (but still healthy)? Yep. Bring. It. On.

Breakfast: Spanish Skillet

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Corn Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté 1 large bell pepper, half an onion, a handful of mushrooms, 1 diced jalapeño, and 1 can black beans in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. If you have some leftover taco meat, now’s the time to add it in (a small chorizo link, diced, works well, too). Season to taste with salt, pepper, and maybe a pinch of chili powder and cumin. Toss in some grated sharp cheddar and 4 beaten eggs.
• Place the dough on top of your masterpiece.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip upside down. Top with salsa if you so desire (and I do)!

Lunch: Cheater Artisan Flatbread “Pizza”

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Focaccia Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté your favorite pizza toppings in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. I used Italian sausage, red onions, spinach, chopped fresh tomatoes (these will taste like your “sauce”), mushrooms, and asparagus. Oh, and garlic! Lots and lots of garlic!
• Season with oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
• Top with fresh mozzarella slices, sprinkled with salt.
• Place your dough over your yummy lunch.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. If you’re feeling really haute couture, top with arugula that has been drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.

Dinner: Jambalaya Skillet

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Corn Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté 2 kielbasa links, a handful of leftover chicken, 1 can diced tomatoes (or use fresh), 1 chopped onion, some minced garlic, 2 stalks chopped celery, and a few cleaned shrimp in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. Add enough chicken broth to moisten.
• Season with Cajun seasoning and salt and pepper. Taste. Add hot sauce if you like spicy lips.
• Top with dough (instead of the typical rice).
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. Serve!

Dessert: Ginger Peach Shortcake

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Buttermilk Biscuits or Budget Mix^® Organic Walnut-Orange Scones, using the BakeOver instructions on the package. Add 1 t powdered ginger.
• Stir together sliced fresh peaches (or any fruit, but peaches go especially well with ginger), brown sugar or honey to sweeten, finely minced fresh ginger, a squeeze of lemon, several pats of butter, and cinnamon in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. (Sprinkle with 2 T flour to thicken if your peaches are especially juicy.)
• Top with dough.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Sigh contentedly.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Nancy Boyd!!!

Nancy Boyd (#2508) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Spinning Merit Badge!

“Ever since I was little and was in a couple 4-H groups growing up and spending time around the animal barns and fairgrounds, I remember seeing ladies spinning on their wheels in the sheep barns. My aunt and uncle had sheep when I was growing up, and that added to my fascination for wanting to learn to spin. Within the last three years, I joined the local Weaver’s Guild in the Columbus, Ohio, area. In the last year, I have purchased around 8 sheep fleeces so I could learn to scour and card the fiber.

Then I used the fiber to work on learning to use both the drop spindle and wheel to spin up some yarn for me to use. I now have these 8 fleeces in plastic containers, and on one of them, I have been practicing doing my carding both by hand and drum. The fleece that I have carded has turned out gorgeous. Even my cousin who raised and showed sheep said it felt soft.

This past August (2014), I participated in the Sheep to Shawl demonstration at the Ohio State Fair, where I worked on carding fleece while other ladies worked on spinning and weaving items while there was a sheep shearing contest going on at the same time in the same ring. It was a lot of fun. One of the guild members helped me out to fine tune my approach to carding. This past week, I sat down and watched a DVD on Carding Wool that had four different individuals on it and how they carded wool. While watching the DVD, I carded some fiber, trying each of these individual methods to see which way I preferred to card.

The whole process turned out great. I did settle on one way to card some fiber. Watching the DVD and the help from one of our guild members has helped me improve on carding fibers. Now I just need to keep practicing and carding all this fine fiber that I purchased and scoured. I will save and use some for my dyeing badge, and spin some to use for my other spinning badges. I am so excited to finally learn a new craft that has been on my bucket list before it was called a bucket list.”

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sarah Hall!!!

Sarah Hall (#5223) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning a Beginner Level Let’s Get Physical Merit Badge!

“I started a new exercise regimen one month ago. I am training to run at least one 5K per month and have already completed two. I have another one scheduled for next weekend. I am not yet able to run the entire thing, but I am getting closer each time I get out there and run. I have also been doing strength training every other day to supplement my running training. So far, I haven’t missed any training days—I even ran two miles on Thanksgiving.

So far, it is going great! I haven’t done a lot of running since my high school and college days, so getting back into it has been painful and, at times, frustrating, but I have discovered a love for the sport and hope to be able to run an entire 5K by summer and then plan to start training to run 10Ks. Maybe someday, I will run a marathon! I am also hoping that my doctor visits will be a lot prettier now that I have added this sport into my life.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Each Other/Greatest Generation Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I was off to visit Gramma Barbie at the Sunny Oaks Retirement Home in Florida. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t just going to earn a new merit badge, I also love me some Gramma time. She’s a hoot. She promised to teach her secret family recipe for Green Bean Casserole, so I set off for Florida, my mouth watering all the way.

The drive gave me plenty of opportunities to think up new life questions for Gramma. Sometimes you know someone so well, you don’t realize what you don’t know. You know? Last time I spent time with her, she almost gave me TMI, if you know what I mean. So this time, I planned to keep her on the straight and narrow,  conversationally speaking.

Turns out, my little plan was derailed by plans of her own. The sneaky woman put me to work organizing old photographs while she gallivanted off with her friends to play bingo. Well, I admit grudgingly, this works too …

Photo by Ricardo Peralta Solis via Wikimedia Commons

By the time Gramma got back (three hours and 20 bucks richer), I had several photo albums filled with old—er, I mean to say vintage—photos, and my tummy was rumbling for some casserole. I let her thumb through my masterpiece while she talked me through her secret recipe:

Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup Concentrate:
3 T unsalted butter
1 small shallot, minced (about ¼ cup)
½ cup minced crimini mushrooms
2½ T all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable broth
½ cup whole milk
1 pinch kosher salt
2 pinches freshly ground black pepper

Start by melting the butter in a pan. Add your shallots and sauté till soft. You can add some garlic here too, if you’re feeling wild and crazy and want to stay vampire free. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk. Pour in broth and milk. Let bubble and simmer for about 5 minutes. Season.

Now it’s time to use this baby for some casserole!

Green Bean Casserole:
2 lbs haricot verts (green beans)
1 recipe Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup Concentrate (above)
½ t kosher salt
¼ t coarse black pepper
¼ cup half-and-half
4 T unsalted butter
2 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Season a pot of boiling water with a few pinches of salt. Drop in the beans and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove and immediately plunge the beans into icy water for a minute or two. Remove to a colander and pat dry.

Photo by Warden via Wikimedia Commons

Add the blanched beans to a large bowl. Pour the homemade cream of mushroom soup over top. Season with kosher salt and black pepper and pour in the half-and-half.

Toss the beans around until coated and place them into a 1½ to 2-qt baking dish. Pop into your preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the beans are fork tender. Toss the green beans once halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the sliced shallots and stir every so often until they start crisping up. Once they’ve reached a golden color {but not too deep} remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined dish, where they will continue to crisp as they cool.

With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, remove the casserole and top with the shallots. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the shallots turn a deep golden. Watch carefully so they don’t burn. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Slurp.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Nancy Boyd!!!

Nancy Boyd (#2508) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Birds Merit Badge!

“My research began with the book entitled Birds of Ohio Field Guide written by Stan Tekiela. I also went onto the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website and searched for birds native to Ohio. There, I found a Field Checklist for Birds of Ohio that was downloadable to my computer. I also printed out a copy of this book for use when I am visiting any of our state parks or the nature center at Blackwoods Metro Park here in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The birds that I have on my “wish list” for right now would be the Ring-necked Pheasant, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, any of the Owls here in Ohio, Cardinal, Blue Jay, House Finch, Purple Finch, and the Great Blue Heron.

This turned out fabulous. I now have a list of birds specific to Ohio that I was able to download from the State’s Natural Resources site. This will allow me to keep track of birds that I would like to see or have seen here in Ohio. That along with my Birds of Ohio Field Guide by Stan Tekiela will allow me to look up the birds and learn specifics on the bird.”

If you’re a regular reader of my Raising Jane blog, you’ve probably noticed some adorable little junk sculptures in our recent “farmgirl romance” photos. They’re the creations of Carol Hill, my magazine designer. (We’ve just finished our Feb/March issue, “Celebrating 15 Years,” and Carol’s designed every issue except for the Premiere issue!)

This fall, Carol discovered a passion for repurposing all kinds of found objects into unique works of art. Carol says her interest was piqued when she discovered that a woman in her ukulele group (another of Carol’s passions is playing the ukulele), Shelly Gilmore, made beautiful large-scale yard art out of old metal findings. (You’ll be able to see Shelly’s art in an upcoming issue of MaryJanesFarm.)

Carol asked Shelly to make her a front-porch railing and promised her that she’d supply the materials. So, off to yard sales, old barns, and friends’ shops she went, and in the process, discovered lots of smaller items that were just too interesting to pass up. She wasn’t interested in drilling and welding, but thought if she could just glue things together and keep her sculptures small, it would be a good hobby to do at the dining room table. An evening spent browsing “assemblages” on Pinterest, and she was hooked.

Carol had already “decorated” her 1971 VW Bug (retired now for a few years) with year-round permanent décor using 100% silicone sealant, so she knew that would be a good choice to hold together her creations. A quick trip to the hardware store for a few staples, and off she went on a brand-new adventure.

Carol says, “I’ve always been a collector of kitschy things—my house is filled with knick-knacks and antique treasures. But I have an offbeat sense of style, so I often see the beauty in things that others may pass right by. My junk sculptures give me a chance to use things that catch my eye, but don’t have much use on their own. In the sculpture above, for instance, I started with an old bottle that had been dug up in a friend’s garden (leaving the dirt intact), added a split walnut I found on a path here at the farm that reminded me of an owl (as well as its perfect heart-shaped interior) for a head, an antique button that I turned upside-down for a hat, an old rusty nut and washer for a neck and shoulders shape, two adorable old pink cup hooks for arms, a decorative butterfly for wings, a scrap of lace from MaryJane’s stash, a Bingo number I found somewhere, and two colorful beads from my jewelry box.”

“I call the girl above ‘Zaza Zen.’ She’s made from a little vase of a girl’s torso that I’ve had for years, set atop a cut-glass votive holder, and topped with a doll head I found at a garage sale. She’s decorated with a strip of red sequins with lace peeking out the bottom to cover up the transition from the bust to the candle holder, a strip of red ribbon from a Tibetan lama, a piece of beaded holiday garland, and a precious little beaded earring in the shape of a girl that I long ago lost the mate to. Her hat is an incense burner with a quartz crystal cluster on top.”

“This tiny guy (note the scale when you notice that his arms are replacement bulbs for mini Christmas lights) came to life when a friend, hearing of my new adventures, gave me the little knob that became a head. She said she had noticed it on a walk and admired its shape and age (it looks like an old Bakelite knob), but didn’t know what to do with it. I found a little bottle for a body, added more rusty nuts for shoulders and feet, and topped it off with a souvenir thimble from Cody, Wyoming, a wild bead, and a wooden star, and called him ‘Marshall Cody’.”

“I find that making these junk sculptures are the perfect pastime for me … they combine my love of precious old things and kitschy new things and don’t require a large chunk of time all at once—there’s a fair amount of waiting involved while you’re waiting for glue to dry before you can turn the pieces over to work on another side. After using my creative juices all day to design a magazine, I find I only have small increments of time that can hold my interest for other creative projects. But for now, I’m on a roll … in just over a month, I’ve made about 20 sculptures! Coming up next? I’ll have to build a running shelf around my living room to display them all!”