February 11, 2013

 1.  kaleidoscope
 2.  kleenexes
 3.  knees
 4.  knitting
 5.  knots
 6.  knight in shining armor
 7.  knotty pine
 8.  kyanite
 9.  kittens
10.  knox blox



February 10, 2013

 1.  Jesus
 2.  jacks  (game)
 3.  jack-in-the-box
 4.  jump rope
 5.  jade  jasper  jet
 6.  jackets
 7.  January    
 8.  June
 9.  July
10.  jars
11.  jam/jelly
12.  jelly beans
13.  journal
14.  jute
15.  Johnny-jump-ups

There is a girl named Jade and a boy named Jet on my bus.  I looked these up  in World Book Encyclopedia --   "Jade is a hard, tough  and highly colored stone widely used for fine carvings and jewelry."    "Jet is a kind of coal so hard and uniform that it can be carved and polished to look like black glass."



February 9, 2013

 1.  indigo buntings
 2.  ink
 3.  Indiana
 4.  Indian Paintbrush
 5.  ice skating
 6.  ice cream
 7.  ideas
 8.  IKEA
 9.  ice fishing
10.  imagination
11.  India paper
12.  Indian corn
13.  idiosyncrasies
14.  islands
15.  ilmenite - a luminous black mineral composed of iron, titanium and oxygen




February 8, 2913

 1.  hoarfrost
 2.  horses
 3.  honey
 4.  hills
 5.  home
 6.  harvest
 7.  hay
 8.  hair
 9.  hands
10.  history
11.  humor
12.  hiking
13.  harps
14.  hibiscus
15.  hasty pudding

Do any of you remember a story in an old reader telling about three children who stayed home alone while their parents went to town?  They were given all sorts of instructions but the most important was - "Latch the door at dusk."   Which they promptly forgot.  That evening a hairy visitor came to call.  They scrambled up the ladder to the loft and sat in a row with legs dangling -- like three sparrows on a high line wire -- and watched while the black bear turned their cabin up side down.  I think he smelled the hasty pudding Betsy was making.  I was always curious about hasty pudding.  What is it and how do you make it?  Here is a process --

Hasty Pudding

Bring water to a boil in a pan.  Make sure the pan is big enough to allow room for boiling.  Cleaning up cooked corn meal off the stove is not fun.  =/
Use stone ground corn meal   (my personal preference)
Follow directions on bag for amounts
I stir a heaping tablespoon of flour into the corn meal then add milk. Use a wire whisk and stir until you have a smooth thickening as for gravy.  Take the pan off the burner while you stir in the corn meal.  Use the wire whisk and stir until everything is smooth.  Put back on the burner, stir until the mixture comes back to a boil.  Turn the burner down as low as possible, cover and let it simmer.
You can put a pinch of salt in too.  Just about forgot that little item.  Place the pan on a trivet or pot holder in the middle of the table.  Put bowls, spoons, milk and brown sugar on the table.  Gather everyone around and enjoy while you talk about the old days on the frontier.