Using Crafts as an Educational Tool for Preschoolers

My four year old recently fell in love with making designs with Perler Beads. I thought it was cute, so I picked up a few sets for her.

(If you are unfamiliar with Perler Beads, they are "beads" that you put on a peg board to form a design. You then use the ironing paper that comes with it to cover the design and iron over it. This melts the beads a bit and fuses the design together.)

I was shocked one day when she made her third design with the beads to see...(to read the rest of "Using Crafts as an Educational Tool for Preschoolers," check out my post today at The Homeschool Classroom.)

Delicious Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe (Quick and Easy)

I mentioned on Friday that I had eaten bread and butter pickles at my Mom's house not long ago. When she asked if I wanted to try some of the sweet pickles she made, I quickly said no, since I can't stand sweet pickles.

But, when Eric had some, I decided to try a little taste. Then, I had to steal them off of his plate. And, just a few days later, I had to make my own batch. I was pleased at how easy they were to make.

My Mom picked up almost all of the ingredients I needed for me. So, the first step was to wash the pickling cucumbers that she had picked up for me. I forgot to count how many I started with. I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 - 16.

Next, I thinly sliced all of the pickling cucumbers. I ran out of room in the bowl I was putting them in, so you'll see that I just stuck a cucumber's worth in each of the big jars that I was getting ready to use.

I also chopped up the onion. And I cried. And I chopped some more, and I cried some more.

I am normally not crazy about onions, so I only used about half the amount in the recipe, but I decided that it was probably important to the recipe to actually put them in. (Plus, on the up side, the onions get pickled too, and they just taste a lot like pickles in the end.)
I filled up six jars with cucumber slices and chopped onions. My Mom warned me many times to really jam the jars full of cucumbers and onions. I thought I had. Let me tell you -- I definitely had not. Next time I make them, I am going to push much harder than this. They aren't all that full, though they do look really full.

I boiled the mixture. I also got too close and sniffed just at the right moment, and it kind of burned my sinuses. Okay, maybe not really burnt them, but it was not pleasant.

Do you know what was less pleasant? When I did it again.

(Quick note: Be sure to check out number four on this list to see my tip about buying the spices very inexpensively.)

I'm funny about pouring boiling hot liquids. So, instead of pouring the boiling hot liquid from the pan straight into the jars, I used a super-sized mixing cup (okay, it's really the batter bowl or something like that from a certain company that sent me a cease and desist email).


Yummy! Hello pickles and onions and spices! You look so good.

So, here's the proof that I did not pack in the jars full enough. See how each jar has quite a large area of liquid at the bottom? Yeah, you see it? Well, that's the proof. (It got a little bit worse after this too!)

Bread and Butter Pickles Recipes

Ingredients:

1 teaspoons Celery seeds

1 teaspoons Mustard seeds

4 cups sugar

2 cups vinegar

2 tablespoons salt

1 large onion

pickling cucumbers

Directions:

1. Slice unpeeled cucumbers (thinly) and sliced onion into glass jars. Pack tightly.

2. Bring spices, sugar and vinegar to a boil.

3. Pour over cucumbers and onions.
(Quick note: I didn't have enough liquid for the amount of cucumbers I had, but the nice thing is that the mixture comes together really fast. So, I just whipped up another 1/4 batch of the liquid to finish up my jars. So, don't worry if you don't have the right amount.)

4. Store in fridge. Mix occasionally. (Keeps for many months.)

Enjoy! (I know I have been. I actually had 12, yes 12, pickles on my hamburger at dinner time tonight.)

This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tackle It Tuesday, and Frugal Friday.

7 Quick Takes: September 4th (Vol. 14)

~ 1 ~

Noah had his very first piano lesson this week, and has been practicing faithfully on our newly refinished piano.

If you missed out how the pictured piano went from multi-colored to high gloss black, make sure to check out the renovation.

~ 2 ~

My friend Misty informed me that she reads three blogs every morning, with mine being one of them. (Apparently my blog must not really make her feel too bad about herself.)

She told me one day this week that she was perturbed because one of the blogs did not have a new post that day. She pointed out that my blog also did not have a new post that day, and that it just throws off her morning. Somehow, based on how many days I miss posting, I'm thinking that I throw off her morning a lot.

Sorry about that, Misty.

~ 3 ~

Just today, for the first time ever, I made bread and butter pickles. Now, I have to admit, I usually think sweet pickles are disgusting (though I love dill pickles). But, when I had some of this particular recipe last week at my Mom's house, I was shocked. Not only did I like them, I liked them enough to make them! (I'll post a recipe soon.)

Of course, it did help that I had a personal shopper (my Mom) who went and bought everything I needed for it and brought it to me.

I kind of wonder if I could pay her to be my personal shopper in general, because that was really handy. Really, really handy.

~ 4 ~

My Mom didn't, however, pick up the celery seed or mustard seed that I needed for the recipe. She suggested that I go to a local natural food store and check out what they offered in bins, rather than buying a big bottle at the grocery store when I only needed one teaspoon.

They didn't have the celery seed that I needed (I bought a half size spice jar for $2.50 at the store), but they did have mustard seed. Just to be sure I had enough of that mustard seed, I even bought three times what I needed -- three teaspoons.

My big total at the natural food store?

$0.22.

I paid my quarter, left three pennies in the penny dish, and left as a happy camper.

(Mental note: Next time I need a herb or spice, but just a small amount, make sure to check out the natural food store.)

~ 5 ~

I recently got out a yellow index card and a robin's egg blue sharpie marker. On it, I wrote the depression era motto:

use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

I posted it on the bulletin board that we all walk by many times throughout the day. I'm hoping it will be a much needed reminder.

~ 6 ~

Last weekend, Eric and I watched the movie The Singles Ward. We both really enjoyed it. It was nice to watch a movie that was both funny and sweet and totally clean.

Of course, it did help that I have known (and am friends with) many Mormons (LDS). So, there were times when we had to stop the movie and I would make some explanations about what was happening or to explain a joke. Still, it was refreshing to watch a movie that we wouldn't have had to shut off if they kids had woken up and come into the living room.

~ 7 ~

In what was surely a sign of the Internet savvy times we live in, I had a funny conversation with four year old Molly this summer.

It would seem that she really enjoyed a little girl that she met at Vacation Bible School. So, one day right after VBS, Molly excitedly told me, "Mom -- I met a girl named Cathryn and she is the most beautiful Cathryn ever."

"How nice!" I told her.

"Yeah, and do you know what?"

"What?"

"I asked her if she wanted to be my friend, and do you know what, Mom?" (insert dramatic pause) "She accepted my friend request!"

Be sure to check out more 7 Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!

What Happens When Desserts Get Jealous

I had to take some snacks to a homeschooling get together. I wanted to be sure that everybody knew what was in the muffins, so I made a label for them. And, well, the brownies weren't very happy about it.

This post is linked to Wordless Wednesday.