Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2020 i Country Woman

About a year ago, we asked you to help plan this issue. We knew many of you have been with the magazine since before it was called Country Woman (see the timeline below), and we wanted to know what favorite crafts, recipes and stories we should revisit in this 50th anniversary issue. It was a given that you’d come through with wonderful ideas, which you’ll now find throughout this issue (look for the special logo). But we didn’t anticipate the humbling volume of heartwarming tales about how Country Woman became part of your world. We expanded the “Let’s Chat” section on page 8 to share some of those memories. This magazine has always been about you—your families, recipes, homes, projects and ideas. It really is your anniversary. Thank you for…

Potato & Leek Soup Chock-full of veggies and bacon with just a little tang from sour cream, a bowl of this soup tastes terrific with a sandwich or crackers. —MELANIE WOODEN RENO, NV PREP: 20 MIN.• COOK: 8 HOURS MAKES: 8 SERVINGS (2 QT.) 4 cups chicken broth 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage 2 medium carrots, chopped 1 medium leek ( white portion only ) , chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds 1/2 tsp. pepper 1 bay leaf 1/2 cup sour cream 1 lb. bacon strips, cooked and crumbled 1. Combine the first 11 ingredients in a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until vegetables are tender, 8-10 hours.…

Fall Flowers Afghan Rosalie DeVries of Florence, Arizona, shared this afghan pattern on the Country Woman website in the early 2000s, and it appeared again in 2006. Still regularly requested, the crochet pattern was originally designed to use up all those scraps of yarn that collect in the craft room. Crafter Linda Kast was inspired to create a shawl in a soft spring palette, sure to be worn for generations to come. Gourd Birdhouse When Jamie Cowden of Center Point, Indiana, featured her painted gourd birdhouse in 1997, she encouraged readers to experiment with painted designs. That’s just what crafter Stephanie Sliwinski did in her update. Stephanie found the natural coloring of the dried gourd so beautiful that she decided to work with it, rather than cover it up. Care…

A WINNER! Ione Diekfuss won the first recipe contest with these cookies in the 1970 premier issue of Farm Wife News. She baked big batches of them for school kids who visited her Wisconsin dairy farm each year. Original Brown Butter Refrigerator Cookies I especially like these butter cookies, always quick and easy to prepare. I can mix them up in a few minutes and pop them into the refrigerator or freezer until I’m ready to bake. —IONE DIEKFUSS MUSKEGO, WI PREP: 40 MIN. + CHILLING BAKE: 5 MIN./BATCH MAKES: 101/2 DOZEN 1 cup butter, cubed 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 large eggs, room temperature 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup finely chopped pecans 1. Heat butter…

Inside my kitchen drawer is a calico apron, the fabric’s chocolate background scattered with blue flowers. It fits over my shoulders and ties in the back. I wear it with love, for it once hung on a hook in my grandma’s kitchen. In the early mornings, Grandma would don the apron and tie it with a neat little knot at her waist. Her chores awaited as she limped her way to the henhouse and bid good morning to the chickens. After giving them a scoopful of corn, she gathered up the calico hem and nestled several eggs in its large pocket. Her next stop was the garden, where, sure enough, a handful of beans, a few ripe tomatoes and a yellow squash—to fry in butter for lunch—were waiting to be…

1 Baby Boom Winter means kids at Reidhill Farm—goat kids, that is. Tasha Hord cuddles with Pearl, one of the bottle babies taking refuge in the house. KIM REID PENROSE, NORTH CAROLINA 2 Puddle Jumper Life on the farm can get pretty messy, but my daughter Ruby, then 3, found mud puddles to be great fun. AMANDA VOLSEN WALTERS, MINNESOTA 3 Bedtime Story My daughter is required to spend 20 minutes a night reading. When I went to her room to check on her, I found her reading The Chicken Encyclopedia to our hen Betty. KARRI MANNING WALESKA, GEORGIA Visit countrywomanmagazine.com/submit to share a family snapshot. If we publish it, you’ll get a free year of Country Woman.…

“Though winter can seem terribly long and boring, it’s one of the most dynamic seasons.❞SHAYE ELLIOTT MALAGA, WASHINGTON This easy craft provides an alternative to tossing unwanted books. Start by painting the spine and covers of old worn books in a neutral color. Dry thoroughly. Arrange books in a stack as desired. Using letter stencils, trace desired phrase on book spines. Fill in the letters with a black marker. Alternately, stamp letters on the books using rubber stamps and ink pads. Wrap the books in twine and add a greenery accent.…

Tell us about yourself. I am a writer and voice-over artist who recently retired from teaching Spanish and English. My husband and I love spending time with our two grown children, and in 2018 we moved from Indiana to Pflugerville, Texas, near Austin, to take loving care of our twin grandchildren. What are your hobbies? I love taking walks with my husband along the lake near our home. We also garden together. I enjoy pressing flowers, reading, writing, and working on voice-over projects. As a lifelong collector, what’s the best find you’ve ever had? My husband and I once found a beautiful panoramic oil painting titled Missouri View. It shows rural golden brown hills rolling along the Mississippi River. Who inspires you the most? As an aspiring middle-grade novelist, I…

The start of a great collection of antique cookbooks may be as close as your own kitchen. The wide variety of vintage cookbooks offers collectors room to specialize. Estate sales, thrift and antique stores, and online book dealers are all good places to hunt for titles. 1 Country Cookbook This is an example of a collaborative community cookbook, generally associated with churches and schools and often published as a fundraiser. They feature recipes from members and usually have more sentimental than monetary value. But they can also provide a portrait of a particular time and place, as well as a treasure trove of regional or ethnic recipes. The volume pictured, a 1980 paperback with comb binding, is from the Santa Anna United Methodist Church in rural Indiana. Worth: $5 to…

I remember a particularly low point while I backpacked through Europe. We’d missed a few trains, finally arriving at our hotel late into the night, weary and fatigued. We were promptly encouraged to head to the restaurant up the road a little ways to drink and eat our worries away. We obliged. The road to the restaurant was dark. The Italian countryside had consumed the path and branches arched over, all but blocking out the night sky. Completely unsure of our chosen route (and life choices at this point), we kept driving on even though we were tired. I’ll never forget looking up from the bleak road and seeing the light from the restaurant on the hillside. Nestled in among the trees, I still couldn’t make out the actual building.…

Cornbread Chicken Bake Make the most of leftover cornbread, with this hearty main-dish casserole. It’s moist, delicious and down-home good for any occasion. —MADGE BRITTON AFTON, TN PREP: 20 MIN.• BAKE: 45 MIN. MAKES: 10 SERVINGS 1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts 6 cups cubed cornbread 8 bread slices, cubed 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted 1 cup chicken broth 2 Tbsp. butter, melted 1 1/2 to 2 tsp. rubbed sage 1 tsp. salt 1/2 to 1 tsp. pepper 1. Place chicken in a large skillet and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-14 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165°. Drain and cut into cubes. 2. In a large bowl, combine…

Five years ago, Holly Christensen of Palmer, Alaska, had an idea: She would create a Rapunzel-like wig out of soft acrylic yarn for a friend’s 3-year-old daughter who was about to undergo chemotherapy for lymphoma. Holly had never crocheted before. As a former oncology nurse, however, she was all too familiar with the challenges that cancer patients, especially children, face in illness, intensive medical treatment and chilly hospital wards. The 3-year-old Rapunzel showed off her new hair to friends. Soon others wanted to become princesses, too. So the Magic Yarn Project began, one crocheted fairy-tale wig at a time, transforming little patients into such brave heroines as Elsa, Moana, Ariel, Jasmine, Rapunzel and more. The not-for-profit is led by Holly and co-founder Bree Hitchcock, who both volunteer their time crafting…

There’s something magical about terrariums. Maybe it’s the idea of creating a tiny living world encased in glass, or because they enhance any indoor space, from boring offices to bedrooms. And terrariums are especially appealing when winter occupies the real world outside. Here’s how you can make your own go-to happy place. DREAM A THEME Create a beautiful biosphere by first considering the “landscape” you want to achieve. That landscape—say, lush rainforest or arid desert or mossy knoll—will dictate the kind of plants, container and decorations to use. Your goal is to simulate the perfect natural conditions needed to keep the plants thriving with little care. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CONTAINER Most likely, you already have a clean, clear glass container you could use. Good options include a canning jar, fishbowl,…

Someone gave me a cookbook. It is worn with time and use, the pages earmarked to note important recipes. Food stains dapple the pages of favorite dishes. The cover has been taped back on over a binding that is coming apart. Yet, this cookbook lives on. Penciled-in changes mark the margins—more salt, less cinnamon—an indication this recipe was a menu mainstay. At nearly 100 years old, this cookbook was published in the era of my grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. I wonder which recipes they would have liked. The book invites me into the world of those women who came before me. It is indeed a different world, with its appetizers I have never tried and menus that often include a soup. There are recipes for spiced mackerel and dinner bread.…

—SHAYE ELLIOTT MALAGA, WA  PREP: 7 HOURS + CHILLING • BAKE: 50 MIN.• MAKES: 2 LOAVES (24 SLICES EACH) 3/4 cup (200 grams) sourdough starter 2 2/3 cups (630 grams) water, divided 2 1/4 cups (300 grams) organic whole-grain flour (einkorn, rye or wheat) 5 1/4 cups (700 grams) organic bread flour 5 tsp. (20 grams) salt 1. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the starter and 21/2 cups (600 grams) water. Add the flours and mix until dough forms a large ball. 2. Cover mixing bowl with a wet towel and allow flour to hydrate 30 minutes to 2 hours. 3. Poke dough to create deep holes. In a small bowl, combine salt and remaining water. Pour mixture into holes. Cover dough with towel and…

Secret Ingredient Fudge Cake Celebrate birthdays or any day with this chocolaty sour cream layer cake. —MARSHA LAWSON PFLUGERVILLE, TX PREP: 35 MIN. BAKE: 30 MIN. + COOLING MAKES: 16 SERVINGS 1 cup baking cocoa 1 cup boiling water 1 cup butter, softened 2 1/2 cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 2 tsp. vanilla extract 3 cups cake flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup sour cream FROSTING 2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup butter, cubed 1 cup sour cream 1 tsp. vanilla extract 4 1/2 to 5 cups confectioners’ sugar 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Dissolve cocoa in boiling water; cool. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time,…

What’s been keeping you busy? I’m a tour director for Country Travel Discoveries. Traveling’s in my blood! My husband, Louie, and I celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2019 with a family trip to Alaska. How many farms did you visit? The number is just over 350. I can hardly believe that myself! How did you see the role of farm women change over the years? I saw them find their voice. They grew confident in speaking out about their goals and concerns. I’m proud Farm Wife News organized the first National Farm Women’s Forum in Milwaukee in 1974. Any chance encounters with readers since you left? Yes, and I love it! On our Alaska trip a woman approached and asked if I was “Ann from Country Woman.” We had the…