“I KNOW HOW TO BOIL WATER; I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S DONE": January 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Paper Towel Dolls

I found the ideal homemade gift for that special friend. It's fun, whimsical and yet so practical. Beve's Paper Towel Dolls combine everyday items around the house and culminate in a present you'll be proud to give. I made several of them for my family and friends for Christmas of 2011 and they were a hit! Here's how easy and fun it is to make:

Supplies needed: paper towel roll; dish towel; dish rag; rubber jar gripper; small plastic garbage bag; face of your choosing; silk flowers of your choosing; sewing pins; plastic sewing needle; black sewing floss; glue stick.

Step #1: Fold dish towel in half.

Step #2: Secure one end of dish towel to paper towel with two pins.

Step #3: Fold unpinned end of dish towel so it just overlaps the pinned end.

Step #4: Secure with two pins.

Step #5: With fold side down, roll top edge of dish towel slightly and pin to paper towel with flower on top. This creates the decorative neck of the doll.

Step #6: Glue face to paper towel.

Step #7: With plastic needle, thread sewing floss through holes of jar gripper and tie off so you create wavy folds to represent the doll's hair.

Step #8: Pin the gripper/hair to the paper towel.

Step #9: Crumple the garbage bag up, stuff most of it into the paper towel tube,and leave some on top for hair.

Step #10: Make a one inch fold in the dish rag.

Step #11: With fold side up, pin dish rag to paper towel on either side of the face.

What a unique, yet simple, gift for family and friends!!

I picked this craft because it was so easy to make, and the result was something that makes me smile every time I see it. When you try it, you'll agree that Beve's Paper Towel Dolls will make your gift-giving a welcome relief for that hard-to-shop-for person. Enjoy!

Natural Resource

Beginnings

It was tradition in my family that soup was served almost every Sunday. There were only a handful of Sundays where soup wasn't part of the menu. On those days, we probably took a trip to Rivesville, West Virginia to visit with my Grandma, who usually had her own pot of soup on, and homemade bread to sink our teeth into. Sundays started with Mass, and after returning home, we would have breakfast. One of my favorite morning dishes was palachintas (yum). Mom would already have soup on the stovetop, and between noon and 2 o'clock it was time for the "soup feast." You could tell time at our house by the Sunday meal plan. A lot of them were based on the time of the football game, or other sporting event. Soup was always served as the noon time meal, followed by a hearty meatloaf, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas, or the like, at suppertime (usually around 4 o’clock). It seemed like all we did on Sunday was eat and relax. You would wonder how you could be hungry for supper at 4 or 5 o’clock. Amazingly, you were. There were times I would remember that if there wasn’t enough roast beef to make you content, Mom would give you a slice of bread on your plate and cover it with gravy (Gravy Bread). What an added feast we thought we were getting. Little did we know, there probably wasn't enough meat for seconds, and who cared, because there was always plenty of gravy for that "oh so special" Gravy Bread. I really don’t remember a lot of desserts. I know we probably had them from time to time, but even if there were, I don’t know how one would find, or want to find, the room to fit it in. Well, all this talk is making me hungry. Go turn on the water and let’s get started!

Dedication

I dedicate this website to the 4 best cooks I know: My mother, who nourished me from the day of my first breath, both physically and spiritually; my mother-in-law, introducing me to her family favorites and customs; my husband’s grandmother, who had a unique, physical and verbal way of teaching me all her different techniques, to pass on traditional dishes; and last, and foremost, my heavenly mother, Mary, who is always by my side guiding me with spiritual intervention every step, and ingredient, of the way. It is with a deep love of my heritage that I also dedicate this collection of recipes to all the cooks who are just starting out and continuing the tradition of using recipes that are "family recipes." I hope that this website will serve to preserve some of my "family recipes" and to kindle an interest in traditional cooking among the younger families in a not always traditional way.

Enjoy!
With much love, Beve