Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets Blog

Archive for October, 2007

Dear Grandma,

We made some Christmas cards to send to our relatives and friends in Ontario. We peeled and dried some birch bark off some of the wood pieces from the river bank. We selected our best pressed and dried flowers that had retained their coloring pasting them with egg white in a pleasing arrangement or design, sometimes stitching them. The spring flowers and autumn made the best showing but we are anxious to display the variety that grow on the wild prairies, so each family got different flowers and colorings. It was a problem to get white paper to wrap the finished cards for mailing so we wrapped them in yellow-brown building paper for security, and note paper for addressing. We were complimented on the results, so we are making some for our walls.

For Christmas gifts we had not any (like Simple Simon) but we exchanged some of our treasures and put them on a bare poplar tree, decorated some Chautauqua books Uncle Alex or A.K. had sent us with his usual Christmas letter. "May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and do you good."

For dinner we had a cherished wild goose stuffed with potato dressing seasoned with wild sage, vegetables, of course, suet pudding of grated carrots, flour and dried Saskatoon berries boiled in a cloth.

Mother allowed us some hoarded sugar for taffy, flavored with wild mint. Some of our gourmet popcorn popped but not much pop in it. We danced on the threshing floor and in the evening played hide-and-seek and did some story reading by lamp for a treat as coal-oil is five dollars a gallon at Saskatoon.

At midnight Christmas Eve we girls went to the stable to see if the oxen would kneel as father said they would or did on Christmas Eve. We had never had the opportunity until now. When mother followed us out to the stable the oxen knelt for a second, as they got up they were disturbed. See?

We missed you and our old friends, Grandma. Everyone sends love.

Maryanne

I wind, I wind, my true love to find, The color of his hair, the clothes he will wear, The day he is married to me.

Throw a ball of yam into barn, old house, or cellar, and wind, repeating the above lines, and the true love will appear, and wind with you. To be tried at twelve o'clock on Halloween night, October 31.

An old lady of eighty told me that in her youth this was tested by a girl. Some one knowing she was going to make the test hid himself in the barn, and when the proper time came called out, "Timothy B." - the name of a man very much disliked by the girl, who was in love with her. She, thinking he had really appeared, and believing from the sign or project that she would have to marry him, became very ill, and only began to recover when they assured her he was not really there.

Cut up two alphabets, put them face down in water at night; then those that are turned over in the morning are the initials of the one you will marry. [try at midnight] October 31.

To Foil a Witch

If a witch should be witch you, she will probably appear to you next time as an animal. Shoot the animal with a silver bullet if you desire to injure the witch.

Lumbermen wrap themselves in fresh deerskin to keep off witches.

Any witch or ghost may be destroyed by merely asking them what they want of you.

To frighten witches away, sprinkle salt around the house.

Your milk will be hard to chum if witches are in it. To get rid of them set the chum in a chimney corner and whip the milk with a switch or drop a dime in the chum.

Will-o'-the-wisp

Some people are very much afraid of the will-o'-the-wisp, or ignis fatuus. They believe that on a dark night it leads its victim, who is obliged to follow, either in the river, where they drown, or in bushes of thorns, which tear them to pieces, the jack-o'-lantern exclaiming all the time, "Aïe, aïe, mo gagnin tot" - "Aïe, aïe, I have you."

The old person who was speaking to me of the ignis fatuus told me that he was born with a caul, and that he saw ghosts on All Saints' Day. He also added he often saw a woman without a head, and he had the gift of prophecy.

The principal feature of a Christmas or Thanksgiving Day dinner is usually the turkey. I have seen young housewives as ignorant about the preparation of a fowl for the table as if she had never eaten one. Hence we will give in detail the different processes through which the Christmas turkey goes before he finds himself under the carver's knife.

To Prepare a Live Turkey

There is a right and wrong way to kill a turkey. The proper way is to tie the turkey up by the feet to a nail in the wall. Hang a weight, a small flat iron will do, around the head of the fowl, and just before the weight is let down, pierce the artery in the neck with a small sharp knife. This allows the fowl to bleed without getting the blood over the feathers and body. When the turkey is dressed and cleaned immediately for family use this, of course, is not so particular.

To Dress a Turkey

Pluck the feathers. When the turkey is very young, the skin is often so tender that it is severely broken during the plucking process. This detracts from the appearance of the fowl, so it usually is better to scald the fowl in boiling water. Then the feathers can be easily plucked. The fowl must be merely dipped in the water and removed almost immediately.

The hair and down are removed by singeing. This is done by holding the turkey over a flame (burning paper does nicely), and constantly changing its position until all parts have been exposed to the flame. Cut off the head and pull out the pin feathers by means of a small pointed knife. Cut through the skin around the leg one and one-half inches below the leg joint, care being taken to not cut the tendons; place the leg at this cut over the edge of the table, press downward to snap the bone, then take foot in right hand, holding bird firmly in left hand and pull off the foot, and with it the tendons.

In old birds, the tendons must be drawn separately, which is best accomplished by using a steel skewer. This may not be very easy but the tendons are very tough and sinewy and make the drumstick not so pleasant eating as when they are removed.

Next make an incision through the skin below the breast bone at one side of the vent. Cut around the vent and if care has been taken, the hand can be inserted and the whole contents, entrails, gizzard, heart and liver, can be withdrawn without breaking the sack which contains them. The gizzard, heart and liver constitute the giblets.

The gall bladder lies under the liver and great care must be taken that it be not broken, as a small quantity of the bile which it contains would impart a bitter taste to the parts with which it comes in contact.

Enclosed by the ribs on either side of the backbone may be found the lungs of soft consistency and red color. Every part of them must be removed. The kidneys lie in the hollows near the end of the backbone, and must also be removed. Place two fingers under the skin at the neck and pull out the windpipe. Also, the crop (which should be empty) will be found adhering to the skin close to the breast.

Drawn down the skin and cut off the neck close to the body, leaving the skin much longer to turn back under the body. Remove the oil bag on the top of the tail, and wash the fowl but do not allow it to soak in water. Wipe inside and out, looking carefully to see that everything has been withdrawn.

Separate the gall bladder from the liver, cutting off all parts that have a greenish tinge. Remove the arteries, veins, and clotted blood from the heart. Cut the fat and membranes from the gizzard. Make a gash through the thickest part of the gizzard and cut as far as the inner lining, being careful not to pierce it. Remove and discard the inner sack. Wash giblets and cook until tender with the neck and tips of wings, putting them in cold water and bringing water to a boil that some of the flavor may be drawn out into the stock which is to be used for making gravy.

To Stuff a Turkey

Put stuffing by spoonfuls in neck end, using enough to make the bird look plump when served. Allowance must be made for the swelling of crackers; otherwise the skin may burst during the cooking. Stuff the body and sew up the skin.

To Truss a Turkey

Draw thighs close to body and hold by inserting a steel skewer under middle joint, running it through the body, coming out under middle joint on the other side. Fasten the legs together at the ends and tie securely with a long string to the tail. Place wings close to the body and hold them by inserting a second skewer through the wing, body and the wing on the other side. Draw the skin under the back and fasten with a small wood skewer.

This trussing makes a bird look plump and fat.

To Roast a Turkey

Place on its back on a rack in a dripping pan. Rub entire surface with salt, and spread breast and legs with three tablespoons of butter mixed with two tablespoons of flour. Dredge the bottom of the pan with flour. Place in a hot oven, and when the flour is browned reduce the heat, and baste. Add two cups hot water. Baste every ten minutes until the fowl is done, which will be about three hours.

During the cooking, turn the turkey often that it may brown evenly. Before serving, remove strings and skewers. Garnish with parsley or celery tips. Do not neglect this last as it greatly increases the appearance of the bird and appearance goes a long way toward enticing the appetite.

Giblet Gravy

Pour off the liquid in the roasting pan. Return six tablespoons of fat to the pan and brown with six tablespoons of flour. Pour on very gradually three cups of liquor in which the giblets, etc., were cooked. Cook five minutes, season with salt and pepper; strain and add the finely chopped giblets.

Stuffing

Remove the crust from a loaf of stale bread, crumb it thoroughly, add powdered sage or poultry dressing, salt and pepper. Pour over a half a cup of boiling water in which one half cup of butter has been melted.

To Carve a Turkey

The bird should be placed on its back, with legs at right of platter for carving. Introduce carving fork across breastbone, hold firmly in left hand. With the carving knife, cut through skin between leg and body, close to body. With the knife pull back the leg and disjoint from the body. Then cut off the wings. Remove the leg and wing from the other side. Slice the meat from the breast in thin crosswise slices. Remove the fork and disjoint the legs and wings. Serve a slice of white meat with each piece of dark meat.

Once you've got that turkey roasted and served, you'll need something great for dessert.  If you're sick of the same old pumpkin pie, check out this Anti-Pie Thanksgiving Desserts lens on Squidoo!

While living in one of their various log cabin residences along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border, the Bayles family discovered that certain hardships which they were experiencing were due to the witchcraft of a neighbor. She troubled them at first by causing their rest to be disturbed by a bucket of cats, who would suddenly appear in the room, frolic over the beds, and then disappear just as mysteriously as they had come, since the house was shut up for the night and there was no opening through which animals of their size could enter or leave. Following this, the Bayleses were visited by a sudden shaking of the whole house, which was repeated night after night, sometimes throwing them out of their beds. To his wife's questions about these doings, Bayles would make no reply except that "the Devil was about; but he knew who was doing it; he'd fix them." His opportunity apparently came when the witch paid them a visit, during which Bayles kept a close watch on her, and finally thought he had detected her in an effort to burn the house down by inserting a live coal between the log wall and the inner board wall of the cabin. He immediately accused her. She, of course, appeared shocked by the charge, but he persisted in it; told her that he knew of her evil doings: that she had come at first "with cats," then "with trying to shake the house down"; and finally, heaping invectives on her, he ordered her to go and never return. She fled hastily, and they neither saw her nor were troubled by her magic again.

At one time Bayles was called to Bellaire, Ohio (about forty miles away from where he was then living), to help a girl who had fallen into a witch's power and was wasting away, no local practitioner being able to free her from the enchantment. Upon arriving at the victim's home, he straightway set about his spells, and took up his quarters in another house near at hand-apparently in order to practice his magic in greater seclusion. However, he gave the girl certain explicit directions: not to give anything to the witch or to any outsider; not to admit the witch, or any other person outside the family, into the house; and if she saw the witch coming, to close and fasten the doors and windows, and try to find a place in the house where she could not be seen. But if the witch spoke to her, then she should reply by cursing the intruder and ordering her away.

The girl promised to fulfill her instructions, of course; but three times after that she let the sorceress enter the house, and each time excused herself to Bayles by saying that she had been deceived: she had thought the visitor was her sweetheart. On the last of these occasions, Bayles himself met the witch as he was approaching the house and she was leaving it. She stopped and looked steadfastly at him, and he suddenly realized that a strange feeling was coming over him. If he "hadn't thought what he was about," she would have cast a spell over him also. But he stopped in his tracks and "throwed the spell away from off’n him"; whereupon the witch departed, and he went on to the house. This time he told the girl that if she did not follow his orders in every detail, he could do nothing for her-he was wasting his time, and might better go home. This threat frightened her into strict obedience, and the next time her enemy came, every door and window was fastened and the girl was nowhere in sight. Round the house went the witch, trying each door and window; and finally, looking through a small aperture, she spied her victim. Immediately she called to the girl, asking why she was shut out, and if this were the way to treat a friend.

The girl answered that the witch was no friend of hers, but had done her much harm, and would do more if she could. Then, cursing her enemy, the girl commanded her to depart. When the witch heard this, she took to Hight, screaming "so that you could have heard her a mile away," and shortly afterward died.

Mrs. Rogers, who believes as firmly as Mrs. Sayre in the efficacy of flying, told me this anecdote: As she was going by the house of an old woman who was reputed a witch (and whose dwelling she never passed without muttering a few precautionary curses), the woman suddenly ran out of doors and came straight toward her, crying "Chicken guts, chicken feathers, chicken guts, chicken feathers!" This scared Mrs. Rogers so badly that she: Fled at full speed, screaming out oaths and invectives as she ran. She attributed her safety then and afterward to the curses she had leveled at the old woman; for she was sure that the above words carried a malign spell. And on her way out the door she dropped her witch boot.

In school we are all taught about the importance of the Fourth of July and why we celebrate it.  America celebrates July 4 as Independence Day because it was on July 4, 1776, that members of the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.  Following its adoption, the Declaration was read to the public in various American cities. Whenever they heard it, patriots erupted in cheers and celebrations.  Today Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings.  Here are some other interesting facts about Fourth of July celebrations and things surrounding this important day in history.

• The first American Flag was sewn by Betsy Ross in its traditional red, white and blue colors.
• In 1846 the Liberty Bell could not be rung anymore because of the famous crack.
•  The American Bald Eagle has been a national symbol of the USA since 1782.
•  Geographically, the United States is the world's third largest country after Russia and Canada.
• The 13 stripes on the US flag represent the original colonies - the 50 stars represent the 50 states.
• The National Anthem of the United States is The Star-Spangled Banner
• Calvin Coolidge was the only president to be born on the Fourth Of July
• John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July,
• The parades, music and fireworks so closely linked with the America's Fourth of July observances are actually common ways to celebrate independence. During the month of July, America, Canada, France and the Bahamas all observe their independence holidays with lively parades and music.

Many people hang flags in honor of this celebration, but did you know that the United States Flag Code stipulates that as the symbol of a living country, the flag is considered in itself a living thing and should be properly displayed and cared for. The code outlines the proper ways to display the American flag.  There are actually more than thirty rules and regulations as to where, how and when the flag should be displayed.  Here are just a few:

• Raise the flag briskly. Lower it ceremoniously.
• Never allow the flag to touch the ground or floor.
• Do not fly the flag in bad weather, unless it is an all-weather flag.
• The flag should always be allowed to fall free.
• The flag should never be used to carry, store, or deliver anything.
• Never fly the flag upside down except to signal an emergency.
• The flag can only be flown at night if properly illuminated. Otherwise, it should only be flown from sunrise to sunset.

John Adams wrote that the Fourth of July "...ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..." And that's what we do each year on the Fourth of July.