I'm A Domestic Goddess...

Okay, maybe that's going a little too far, but I've done some pretty cool domestic-type things this last few months that I'm awfully proud of. You know how when you want to grow up to be a wife and mommy, you plan to be able to do all the cool and amazing things your mom did? Then, you get married and learn that you're also expected to do all the wonderful things your husband's mom did, too? Well, for the first 18 years of marriage, I have hated ironing, almost never (except one disastrous meal and one special recipe) made gravy from meat drippings, failed miserably and gave up on my mother-in-law's "no fail pie crust" recipe, and never made a loaf of bread with my hands, from scratch.

Well, I've decided to call this my Season of Growth in the Homemaking Arena. Since Father's Day, I've made four amazingly flaky and delicious no-fail pie crusts, made chicken gravy from a roasted chicken that even our friend who doesn't like gravy said was wonderful, bottled 12 quarts of peaches (water bath canned) all by myself, made beautiful twin loaves of yummy sourdough bread (from my own sourdough start), bottled 22 quarts of green beans (pressure canned) all by myself, and made a "just right" lemon meringue pie that looked as beautiful as my mom's and caused a great big grin on my husband's face. How's that for developing my talents? I know that He who created me is the one that gave me these hidden abilities, but I'm so excited, I've allowed myself just a few small moments of unrighteous pride...

Oh, yeah. And thanks to those who gave me tips, pointers, encouragement, recipes, and you know, ...helped me!