Category Archives: Homemaking

ThanksGiving is creeping up on us fast, and I’m getting things planned for our feast that will be held here with 29 of our family. I LOVE ThanksGiving! A Holiday with no mandatory gifts, no candy, just time to enjoy the family God has given us, and the bounty of blessings He has bestowed.

In addition to the abundance of food we are blessed with, I am thankful for so many “modern maidservants” that help me prepare that food. We indeed have been blessed with many things that are wants not needs, but do truly serve us well.

Our latest blessing is a dishwasher. Ours completely went out a week and a half ago. I didn’t expect that we could replace it right away, but I did the research to find one that worked well at getting the dishes actually clean. We decided we would get it while the great sales were going, and we found one on my list, in stock locally, that we could afford, that was rated very high. In fact the only one we could afford in the highest rating category on some sites. We gave up a few extras we were used to, in cycles and rack adjustability, but we have clean dishes and sparkling glasses. Thank you Father God. It will be a great blessing to not have to do dishes for a feast for 29 by hand. (For those interested, it is a Whirlpool Gold model WDT710PAY. This is the first I looked at Amazon, as I chose by test reviews which are not anything like what is seen on Amazon. It ranked better than 92% of other dishwashers.)

Another kitchen blessing is, of course, my Bosch. I thank God for introducing me to Shelly, somewhere around 20 years ago. She showed me how a flour mill and bread mixer could pay for themselves in a short time for our family. We have been blessed to be able to make fresh whole grain bread for our family (as well as MANY other things), save money while giving our family the best, and do it conveniently in just a few minutes. Whether for kneading bread and dinner rolls, or mashing many pounds of potatoes, or whipping up crowd sized desserts, my Bosch is a huge blessing, that paid for itself many years ago. (Click image or name for our Fall Special!)

Lastly, for today anyhow, is the maidservant that will probably get used more than any other for ThanksGiving–more times anyhow–my Cuisinart Food Processor. I had a hand-me-down old one many, many years ago, and then none for many years, and have been blessed to have one again. I’m so thankful for all the many things this servant does. Grating, chopping, slicing, mixing. We just wash it out and use it again and again, and love that the Cuisinart holds up year after year.

My greatest blessings are not things. We could do without everyone of these. But we are thankful for them. God has provided over-abundantly for us. And we give Him Thanks.

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Yes, the Holidays are upon us. I’m not getting gift lists made as soon as I need to, to get the gifts themselves made, and I need to get on it. Time to pull out my Holiday Planner before time gets away from me and stress creeps in.

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Whether it’s your Decorations, your Gifts, your Cards, your Meals, your Calendar … – we’ve got a form for that.

Print out as many of each form as you need (for your own personal household only). Put them in a Notebook Binder. And you’ve got your own brain-in-a-book to keep you organized and stress-free through the Holidays. (Well, I guess I can’t guarantee that, but it will help anyhow.)

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I may not be the sharpest knife in the block. But my block on my shoulders now is sharp about good knives and my block on the counter now holds quality knives – sharp and able to get the job done easily and effectively. I found this post buried in my unposted drafts – from Jan. 07! It’s about time I get this info out!

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Knives are far from my area of expertise. But a chef will tell you they are the most important kitchen tool. Perhaps they are right. As I note at the beginning of our Modern Maidservants page, to eat completely natural we wouldn’t need any tools but a knife.

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But I have spent my life with cheap knives that don’t hold an edge and are usually super dull. It wasn’t that long ago that I told my daughter I really didn’t see any need for expensive knives. But then I began looking at the reason I hated using mine so much. The edges were not only dull, but horribly knicked up, and the serrated blades were bent over. The proof came as I sliced a loaf a bread and ended up with a big pile of crumbs, and my daughter tried to dice chicken and ended up with shredded. Yes, it’d been too long since they’d been sharpened, but it hadn’t been that long, and they were losing an edge way too quickly. I knew it was time to do something.

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That began my research into knives. I found out that generally forged knives are higher quality than stamped, that high carbon stainless steel weds the best of carbon – great edge, with steel – no rust. I learned that Wustof and J.A. Henckels were the names to have, if you can afford them. I also learned that it is far better to buy 1 or 2 good quality knives, than have a “set” of poor quality ones. And that a good chef’s knife can easily cost double what I paid for the highest priced set I’d ever bought, but is worth it. Wusthof Classic – J.A. Henckels Twin Pro

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I learned that Chicago Cutlery, whose cheap versions I’ve had in the past, makes a forged set that gets favorable reviews for the money. They are called Walnut Forged. That there is a line of stamped knives that ranks very well, and a 3-piece starter set costs about what I paid for my big so-so set. They are Forschener/Victorinox, the company that makes the Swiss Army Knife.

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I learned that my recommendations for which knives are most necessary, are pretty much the same as the expert chefs say, though I probably use my utility and paring more, and they all say the chef’s knife is the most used. Those 3 along with a serrated bread knife and a shorter serrated utility knife should be all you need, at least to get started. The only other knife you may prefer to have is a currently popular Santoku, Asian knife great for cutting vegetables.  If you prepare a lot of meat, you may want along the way to add a boning, fillet, and/or carving knife also. But I’d say, get an electric knife for carving. You can use it on bread too if you like.

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Update: After about 2 years of use, I highly recommend the Wusthof Classic line of knives. I’ve been totally pleased with them. They are worth the money to have a great kitchen tool that you use day in and day out. If you can’t afford Classics, the Wusthof Gourmet line would be good starter knives. I recommend them over the other recommendations here. Just get a couple to get started, and purchase Classics to fill in, and then upgrade as you’re able.